


Game On

by Alllegsnodairy



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AkuRoku - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Video Game World, M/M, Slow Burn, Video Game Mechanics, Virtual Reality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2019-10-14 05:16:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 49,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17502311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alllegsnodairy/pseuds/Alllegsnodairy
Summary: Now infatuated with the virtual reality MMORPG, "Kingdom Hearts", Roxas encounters a guild of powerful players and a mystery that threatens both his personal and online relationships. And when the lines between his online and real lives start to blur and disappear, how will he balance his life with his online persona, especially when his feelings start to get in the way?AU: Kingdom Hearts is a Virtual Reality video game. KH Original characters (Roxas, Axel, Sora, etc) and FF characters that may appear are players, whereas all Disney characters are NPC's.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Just a quick heads up before we jump in - the first couple chapters of this are a lot of world-building and setup, and Axel won't properly be introduced for a couple of chapters. I already have the first 12 chapters of this story written, so I intend to upload twice per week, every Monday and Thursday. Keep checking back for updates! I hope you enjoy my story :)

I tossed the helmet around in my heads, thinking about what was about to happen. I'd heard so much about these virtual reality games, but never cared much to play one. I'd never really been into video games – when we were kids, Sora and I had played lots of co-op split screen games, but whereas Sora continued to play games into his late teens, I sort of got bored of them.

Lately my curiosity had been getting the better of me, and frankly I’d run out of things to do. So I saved up my allowance to buy the VR Headset, and then the game. “ _Kingdom Hearts._ ” 

This was the game Sora was so obsessed with – Sora hadn’t shut up about it for over a year. Everything was “guild this, Heartless that”, and although I’d never so much as logged in, I was fairly certain I could tell you everything about the game with marginal accuracy.

I'd debated asking for Sora to help him get started, but refrained. Sora was probably a really high level, and the last thing I wanted was for Sora to babysit me through the early game. No, I could definitely handle this myself.

I took a deep breath, standing from my bed to lock the door to my room. If Sora barged in (as he’d been known to do), the last thing I wanted was for his helmet to get ripped off right in the middle of a “full dive”.

Honestly, I wasn't totally sure why I was even doing this. But what could the harm be?

I climbed into bed and slid on the helmet, connecting it to the Ethernet cable. The game was already inserted to the back of the helmet, so I leaned back onto my fluffy pillow and closed my eyes.

“Power on,” I spoke aloud. Numbness crawled through my body from the top down, and I felt like falling asleep.

I opened my eyes to a dark room. A quick look around revealed only darkness in every direction, save for a single glowing menu above him.

 _ENTER E-MAIL AND PASSWORD_ , it read. A keyboard flashed in front of me, appearing as if it were made of neon lights. I typed in my e-mail and password, unable to feel the keys below my fingers, and hit enter.

 _ENTER USERNAME_. I hadn’t really thought of one. Roxas was a pretty unique name, though, so I just typed that in.

Miraculously, Roxas was still an available username, so I clicked "Enter" to advance to the next step. A full-length mirror materialized, but the face staring back at me was that of a stranger. His hair, face shape, and body type were entirely different from mine in the real world. I leaned in close and touched my face, as if to test if what I was seeing was really real (which technically it _wasn't_ , but whatever). A menu appeared – a character creation screen? I scrolled through the menu, switching between hair and skin options and watching my own body change along with it. It was surreal, watching my appearance change so drastically just with the touch of a button.

I figured that since I'm using my real name, I may as well try to look like my real self. I used the sliders provided to shrink myself down to my real height (maybe with a couple extra inches), and down to my approximate weight. I chose the closest skin tone and eye color, and since there were no hair styles that really matched, I instead picked a cool spiky one. Maybe later I could try spiking my hair like that for real.

Satisfied with my appearance, I hit the large “ _ACCEPT_ ” button to my right. It asked him to confirm, and when I did, the entire world flashed white.

I blinked the spots out of my eyes – now the world had shifted. A small menu appeared, floating in front of me – “ _Welcome to the world of Kingdom Hearts!_ ” it said. I clicked the “ _OK_ ” button, and that was that.

There didn’t seem to be much of a tutorial – I glanced around and saw a lot of players standing around, chatting and scrolling through menus. A man off to his right was flipping through different armors, and I watched in fascination as the armor simply appeared and shifted on his body, never having to go through the motions of actually removing it.

I glanced down at my hands - it was a surreal feeling. I felt the earth beneath my shoes, the clothes on my body. I remembered when virtual reality was just wearing a visor over your eyes and playing the game that way - this was something different altogether. To actually move my body in the world of this game...technology had really come so far. I thought for a moment about my real body, lying limp on my bed. An onlooker could never imagine what I was really experiencing, now exploring this virtual world as if it were reality.

It looked shockingly similar to reality. There were little things that broke the immersion - the cursors over the other players' heads, and scrolling through floating menus in front of them. But aside from that, one might never suspect that this world was a fabrication.

It was all a little overwhelming. I wasn’t even sure how to begin – how could I even open the menu? This wasn’t like a regular game where you could hit the start button on your controller. It must have been some kind of motion control, but I wasn't sure what it could be.

I glanced around – a nearby girl swiped her right hand in the air in a downward motion, and a menu appeared in front of her. I mimicked the motion, and sure enough, a small menu appeared.

I scrolled through the data – there was a stats section which seemed fairly simplistic – HP, MP, and STR. It was fairly obvious what they stood for – Health Points, Magic Points, and Strength. Each of them seemed to be very low, which was to be expected.

The next menu seemed to house skills. Most of the slots were filled with question marks, no doubt needing to be unlocked somehow. Only two were readily available – Magic and something called “Keyblade Mastery”, whatever that was.

I switched tabs to look at my inventory, where I only had a couple of things to work with. Looks like I'd been given some beginner healing equipment and a starting weapon, something called the “Kingdom Key”. There was also a small zero at the bottom labeled “Munny”, which I supposed was currency, though I wasn't sure why it was spelled that way instead of money. I tapped on the Kingdom Key to equip it, and a small tutorial window appeared.

“ _Weapon equipped. To draw your weapon, move your hand as if grabbing the hilt of the weapon._ ”

I closed the menu and extended my arm in front of me, and curled my fingers inward as if grabbing the handle. There was a brief flash of light, and suddenly I was holding a large key.

It was nothing fancy – a square-ish gold hilt and a firm handle. It didn’t look like much of a weapon – sure, it had a little weight to it, but there weren’t any sharp edges for slashing. Then again, for beginner's equipment, this was pretty much to be expected.

As I turned the Kingdom Key over in my hand, I heard surprised gasps from all around me. Looking around, wide eyes and open mouths peered back at me. I shrunk under their collective gaze – I couldn’t tell what emotions they were displaying, only that they seemed surprised to see my Keyblade.

What was the big deal? Sora mentioned Keyblades all the time, was that not normal? I motioned as if dropping the weapon, allowing my hand to relax, and it vanished in another flash of light. Murmurs crept among the crowd, though I couldn’t make any of it out. They were obviously talking about me, or at least my weapon, and that was cue enough for me to get a move on.

Where was I, anyway? I opened my menu again as I walked, looking for a map. When I finally found it, the label at the top of the menu read "Traverse Town".

This must be the beginner’s town. There were probably some shops around to buy some basic equipment, and maybe some quests or something? My experience with RPG’s was pretty minimal – most of my childhood games were more outright competitive, like shooters and racing games. I didn’t know shit about magic, but I could whoop some ass in Halo. Or, at least, I used to be able to.

I sighed, facing the inevitable. I needed help. There were still a significant amount of people around eyeing me cautiously, but out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of someone walking while glancing down at a book. I ran over to him to grab his attention – I supposed someone not paying any attention at all was better than someone who seemed to be silently judging me.

“Um, excuse me?” I said. The boy seemed distracted, but glanced up out of the corner of his eye.

I noted the small green cursor above his head, indicating that he was a player and not an NPC in the game. He seemed dressed simply enough, wearing only a solid black cloak and gloves, with silverish blue hair laying down in his face. He probably wasn’t too much higher a level than I was, but definitely more informed.

“Yes?” he asked flatly. My words suddenly got caught, so I cleared my throat before speaking again.

“Sorry to bother you. I’m new, and I was just wondering where I can go to buy equipment,” I explained.

The stranger eyed me up and down, noting that I was still in the beginner clothes.

“You’ll need to get Munny to buy new equipment, so you should probably start there,” he said. Right, I should've thought of that. “There are some easy Heartless over in the Second District. I’m headed that way anyway – you can follow along if you want.”

I nodded. “That’d be great, thanks.”

“Mhm.” The man didn’t waste any words, and continued to look at his book as he began walking. I followed closely behind, scrolling through my menu. It seemed fairly simplistic – from my understanding, most of the combat mechanics came from actual skill, not using individual powers and things like that, and Strength only determined how much damage was dealt in combination with your equipped weapon. Magic was probably different in some way, but I wasn't sure how that would all work out mechanically.

I suddenly realized I hadn't introduced myself to the kind stranger. “I’m Roxas, by the way,” I greeted.

“Zexion.” Zexion didn’t look up from his book, but he did nod slightly in recognition. After a bit more walking, the man snapped his book shut and it disappeared in a small flash of light, back in his inventory.

“Through this door is the Second District,” he said. “The Heartless here are weak, but they can still kill you at level one. You should probably equip your sword.”

I nodded and grabbed at the air, the Kingdom Key appearing suddenly. Zexion’s eyebrows raised, the most emotion I'd seen from the stranger.

“You’re a Keyblade Master?” Zexion asked, seemingly surprised.

“I guess so. That’s what it said in my Skills screen,” I said. “Why? Is that odd?”

“Very rare, and very powerful,” Zexion said. He stood silently for a moment, wheels turning in his head. Zexion scratched at his chin. “I don’t have to be back at Headquarters for a while…okay, I’ll help you out.”

I hadn’t asked for advice, but if Zexion wanted to offer, who was I to turn him away?

We pushed the large wooden doors open. Before us was a larger area. The walkway divided into two paths, flanking the larger square in front of them.

“These are called Shadows,” Zexion said. Small black creatures appeared, literal shadows come to life with small, beady yellow eyes. They twitched in place, not seeming to have taken notice of me and Zexion. “They’re the weakest Heartless you’ll find in Kingdom Hearts. At level one, that’s about as much as you can handle. You know how combat works?”

“My plan was to hit it until it dies,” I shrugged.

“You sound like Axel,” Zexion half-chuckled. “That’ll be good enough for now. Kingdom Hearts doesn’t have special attack skills like some other RPG’s, so it's up to you to figure out a fighting style."

“There are other weapons besides Keyblades, right?” Roxas asked. Zexion nodded.

“Keyblades are extremely rare,” he began. “As far as I know, less than twenty players can even wield them, and nobody knows the prerequisites to unlock the skill. As far as the community can tell, it’s totally random. You should count yourself lucky.”

I glanced down at my Kingdom Key, suddenly overwhelmed by it. What should I even think? Had I really gotten that lucky? I knew that Sora could also use the Keyblade, so maybe that somehow had something to do with it.

The Shadow seemed to notice me, making a slow approach towards the pair of us. “Go ahead and hit it when you’re ready. Be careful, though, when they go flat on the ground, they’ll move faster and are invincible until they come back up again.”

I nodded and approached the Shadow. It twitched and lunged through the air at me, and just by reflex I swatted it aside with my Keyblade. A small green bar of health appeared above the Shadow, and it dropped by about a third as it stumbled back. I charged and swung again, but the Heartless went flat against the ground, passing right under my feet and came back up

The Shadow jumped before I could react and struck me right in the hip, knocking me back a little. Suddenly I noticed my own health bar in the lower right corner of my vision, a green bar that curled around an image of my own face. As I took damage, a small chunk of my HP vanished.

I swung my Keyblade again and made solid contact with the Shadow, and then immediately followed up with a downward strike. The enemy burst into a small cloud of darkness that quickly vanished. As the smoke evaporated, a small bit of text appeared, revealing that I'd gained some EXP. Additionally a few items had fallen on the ground – some were small green orbs, and the others were small, gold trinkets.

“The green orbs restore your health, the gold ones are Munny,” Zexion explained. This was probably super basic information, but I made sure to soak up every bit that Zexion threw out. I walked up to the orbs to grab them, but instead of having to pick them up individually, I sort of just absorbed them as I got close. My HP returned to full, and according to my inventory, I'd gained 5 Munny as well.

“Those are the basics. You’ll want to stick to the Shadows right through here until you hit level 3 or so. Then Soldiers will get you more Munny and EXP,” Zexion explained. “Want to try a few more?”

I nodded. Zexion gestured with his head off to my right, noting that several more Shadows had spawned in. I clutched the Keyblade tightly in my hands, and charged.

About a half hour later, I'd gained two levels. It really didn’t take much at this stage, but I noticed that after he hit level 3 and my STR increased, I was starting to take the Heartless out faster.

“Good work. Let’s try something harder,” Zexion said. “Down this path there will be a Soldier that spawns with two Shadows. Let’s try that.”

We made our way down the left walkway, in front of some kind of hotel. About halfway down the path it widened for a moment, looking like some sort of seating or smoking area, though it was occupied by three Heartless. Two were more Shadows like before, but one in the middle was more humanoid, with red claws and a metal helmet. Surely that was the Soldier.

“Soldiers are quick and at your level with no armor, will probably take about a third of your health in one hit. They’re pretty fragile though, so you’ll want to target him first,” Zexion instructed. I nodded and clutched my Keyblade tight, charging straight at the Soldier.

Just as the creatures noticed me, I blasted past the Shadows and swung right at the Soldier, staggering it and dealing a bit of damage. I'd fallen into a sort of rhythm with a three-hit combo, with two sideways slashes followed by a heavier overhead one. I didn't know if that third slash actually dealt extra damage, but it seemed that it still calculated more force behind it from the way the Soldier flew back after the third hit.

Unlike the Shadows, the Soldier didn’t go down in one combo, and it quickly retaliated and dealt a big chunk of damage to my health bar. Having forgotten about the Shadows, they too leaped up and struck me, taking my health to about half. I swatted them away and charged at the Soldier, taking it down in two more hits. I took the HP it dropped just in time to take another blow from a Shadow, and then quickly dealt with those two. Feeling accomplished, I felt myself grinning as I soaked up all the HP and Munny orbs they dropped.

“Nice work,” Zexion said, his arms crossed. He scratched at his chin, thinking. I noticed Zexion doing that quite a bit while I fought the Shadows, watching so intently.

“I’ve got somewhere to be. Do you have a little more time to be logged in?” Zexion asked. I glanced at the time at the top right of my vision. It was only about 6:00, so dinner wouldn’t be for another hour or so.

“Yeah, I’ve got time. What’s up?” he asked.

“Wanted to introduce you to some friends,” Zexion half-smirked. He glanced to his left and brought up an open palm, a large oval of darkness appearing. The dark energy swirled around towards the center.

“What’s that?”

“It’s called a Dark Corridor. It’s a Dark Magic spell that allows you to teleport to worlds you’ve previously visited,” Zexion explained. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

Zexion gestured for me to enter. I hesitated for a moment - you know, as far as "invitations" go, Zexion's dark portal wasn't exactly the most inviting. But then I figured, it's just a game, so what could the harm really be? I stepped into the Dark Corridor.

The darkness parted like a curtain, revealing a sort of crowded room. A quick count showed eleven faces, displaying a mix of emotions – some neutral, some frustrated, some confused. But all eyes were on me and Zexion as we entered the room.

I swallowed nervously. “H-Hi.”


	2. The Recruitment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More world building! Just a couple chapters until things really pick up ;P

“H-Hi,” I greeted nervously. The eyes didn’t waver, staring the pair of us down intensely.

A group of eleven cloaked figures sat high above – the stark white room hurt my eyes for a few moments until they adjusted. Even the lowest chair was ten feet above my head, and they were staggered in height, all leading up the highest throne. Even high above, their shapes were easy to make out thanks to the contrasting black robes, all matching Zexion's.

“You’re late, Zexion. And what’s with the noob?” a girl asked, seeming to be the only girl in the room. She was petite in figure with hair slicked back with two strange antennae of hair jutting from her head. Her seat was the lowest one.

“A guest,” Zexion explained. “He just joined Kingdom Hearts today, but I thought he might like to meet you all.”

Another of the strangers snorted, this one with an eyepatch and a huge scar across his face. “Look, Zex, I’m not sure why you’re so charitable all of a sudden, but we’re not really into community service. The kid can look up guides on his own time.” I looked up to the source of the voice, this one right next to the highest throne.

The energy in the room was tense. They weren't welcoming me very warmly, and for a moment I knew it was a mistake to follow Zexion so willingly. These players all had matching cloaks, black ones like Zexion wore. If it came to blows, they’d all work together. Most likely any one of them could easily take me out.

“It’s not about community service, Xigbar. It’s about recruitment,” Zexion snapped. Xigbar (the one with the eyepatch, I surmised) raised an eyebrow.

“This noob? Even Larxene must be forty levels higher than this kid,” Xigbar scoffed.

“That may be true. However,” Zexion trailed off. “Roxas, if you’d please?”

Zexion moved his hand in a slashing motion, and I got the hint. “Oh, r-right,” I stammered awkwardly. I extended my arm and summoned the Kingdom Key, the weight dropping into my hand. The room fell silent and Xigbar sat up straight, his one visible eye open wide.

“Holy shit,” someone mumbled, though Roxas couldn’t tell who. “The runt’s a Keyblade Master?”

“Whoa,” another said.

The energy of the room shifted again back to something more normal, though I squirmed under all of their eyes. What had previously been a judgmental stare had graduated to fascination, all looking at my Keyblade. I released my weapon, vanishing in another flash of light.

“See?” Zexion mused, gesturing towards me.

“I should have known you wouldn’t have brought him here for no reason, Zexion,” a deep voice boomed - the one on the highest throne. He had stark silver hair spiked up to a point, falling over his shoulders and down his back. His dark skin and black cloak only exaggerated his piercing orange eyes. “A Keyblade Master…those are a rare breed in Kingdom Hearts.”

I gulped. This man…there was an air of power around him, and it was visible in the way the others heeded to his voice. Although nobody said a word, it was clear that this man was in charge.

“Boy,” the man said. “What is your name?”

“Roxas,” I said quickly. I didn't know why, but I wanted to make sure to do whatever this guy said.

“Roxas. I am Xemnas. I am the leader of this guild, Organization 12,” Xemnas said, confirming what I already knew. “Zexion has apparently seen promise in you, and the Keyblade is proof of that promise. You must be strong of heart and will to have come here before one of the most power guilds in Kingdom Hearts.”

…what? That seemed awfully dramatic. Who even talks like that?

“Second strongest, but who’s keeping track?” Xigbar teased. “But a Keyblade Master…could come in handy if he’s any good."

“My thoughts exactly,” Zexion noted, passing me and moving towards the larger group. Zexion began to levitate, and he took his seat at the only empty throne in the room, this one a little over halfway up.

“Perhaps,” Xemnas noted. “Before we make any offers, perhaps a test is in order…Marluxia?” A tall man with pink hair perked up, locking eyes with Xemnas. “If you’d be so kind, duel with Roxas.”

I glanced back at Marluxia who stared me down intently. He seemed to levitate down from his (relatively) low throne, landing gracefully. “You want me to beat up a noob like this? Keyblade or no, he’s going to get demolished.”

A quick blow to my pride, I instinctively drew my Keyblade and took a fighting stance. Kingdom Hearts may have a level system, but this was still a game that relied on athletics, right? I wasn't afraid of him.

“He doesn’t seem worried,” Xemnas noted, a hint of amusement in his voice. “I trust you will go easy on him.”

“Not a chance,” Marluxia snorted and stepped forward. Members of the Organization leaned forward, watching with piqued interest. Marluxia swiped his right hand through the air and rustled around in his menu, and after tapping a few buttons a small menu appeared in front of me.

 _Marluxia has challenged you to a duel. Will you accept?_ it prompted.

“Duels mean that even when you lose, your HP won’t drop to zero, and you’ll be fully healed after the fight,” Marluxia explained. “Just accept. We’ll make it quick.”

I bit my tongue and quickly accepted the duel. A large timer appeared above our heads in the space separating us, counting backwards from 30. Marluxia extended his arm, a huge scythe materializing in a flash of light and flower petals.

I took my fighting stance, Kingdom Key clutched tightly in my hands. Marluxia didn’t seem bothered by it, twirling the scythe around with one hand. The timer ticked closer to zero, and I readied myself to charge.

 _START_ flashed above us, and I dashed forward with all the strength my legs could give me. Marluxia's weapon had reach, so I knew to get anywhere I was going to need to get up close before he could strike.

Marluxia didn’t flinch as I drew closer, key swinging back and connecting with Marluxia’s shoulder. It tore through him, but the man didn’t so much as flinch. My eyes shot up to Marluxia’s health bar that dropped so minimally that it was hard to tell that I'd hurt him at all. I steadied myself, and went to take another swing at him.

“You’ve got spunk, I’ll give you that,” Marluxia said. Marluxia straightened his leg flat against my chest and pushed me up and away with impossible strength, forcing me in range of his scythe. He tightened his grip on his scythe and swung out, but I managed to adjust myself midair to parry the blade with the side of my Keyblade. Just the force of it sent me flying across the room. Though I'd technically blocked Marluxia's attack, the force of me slamming against the base of one of the thrones still took a chunk out of my HP.

Marluxia sighed. “Okay, let’s call it here.”

Marluxia raised his empty hand to face me, and a vortex of flower petals shot directly my way. I hardly had any time to react, and before I knew it the petals were slashing at my skin until my HP fell to one. The duel ended showing _VICTORY: MARLUXIA_.

I peeled myself off the ground. For a moment my body felt heavy, but as my HP filled back up automatically, I got back on my feet and released my Keyblade. Heat gathered in my cheeks - I was embarrassed, my previous bravado shattered.

“I’m Level 56, kid. You weren’t going to win,” Marluxia said.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek to keep myself from responding. Sure, me winning wasn't likely, but I wanted to put up more of a fight than that. For how strong this Keyblade was supposed to be, it didn’t seem to do me a lot of good.

“True, but he fought with courage,” Xemnas noted. “His heart was in the battle.”

Another member spoke up, this one a younger guy with sandy blonde hair. “Plus his reflexes aren’t bad for a noob,” he said. “Blocking Marluxia’s scythe isn’t the easiest thing to pull off, especially at his level.”

“Not when you use an actual weapon and not a guitar, Demyx” the redhead quipped.

“It’s a _Sitar_ ,” Demyx fired back. “And I’m a mage, so I don’t need actual weapons.”

“Sure. Hey, play Wonderwall.”

“Eat my ass, Axel.”

“Buy me a plane ticket, I’ll be there tomorrow.”

“That’s quite enough,” Xemnas interjected. The two went silent, Demyx gritting his teeth and Axel grinning ear to ear. “Roxas. If you’d be willing, I’d like to formally invite you to join our guild.”

My breath hitched. Not even two hours into this game, and someone wanted me to join their guild? And apparently one of the strongest in the game.

“Don’t feel pressured, Roxas,” Demyx said, oddly comforting. “We can help you out a lot to get stronger, and having backup is never a bad thing.”

Xemnas pulled up his own menu to type something, and after only a few moments, a menu appeared before me.

_You have been invited to join the Guild: Organization 12. Will you accept?_

“If you join, we’ll change the name to Organization 13,” Zexion said. He had a small smirk on his face, almost proud (of himself or of me, there was no way to know).

I swallowed nervously – was this the right decision? I couldn’t think of a single reason not to join, but this was a lot of information coming at once. My finger hovered above the “accept” button for a moment, and to push down my indecisiveness, I closed my eyes and hit it.

“And so it shall be,” Xemnas said. “Welcome to Organization 13, Roxas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up on Monday, January 28. See you all then!


	3. The Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say right now, but make sure you read the notes at the end!

My eyes opened slowly, vision dimmed by the visor over my eyes. I pulled of my VR helmet and set it aside, not really wanting to move yet, staring at the ceiling.

 _What just happened?_ I wondered. Virtual reality...it was like nothing I'd ever experienced. And to be welcomed so quickly into a community I didn't even understand...

That group...Organization 12, or 13 as it would now be called. What was it about them that intimidated me? Their dark matching cloaks, and that Marluxia...he seemed to be one of the ones lower on the totem pole judging by the height of his throne. How strong must be the leader, this "Xemnas" figure? I struggled to imagine it.

I sat up in bed, stretching my back. My whole body felt stiff like I'd been asleep for a really long time, and I stretched my arms over my head as I stood up. My hair was matted down tight from the helmet, and it ached as I ran my fingers through my hair.

I glanced at the mirror in the far corner of the large room. Suddenly it seemed weird to not see the dramatic spikes in my hair, instead just the dirty blond matted mess instead. I tried to spike my hair upward, to emulate how it looked in the game, but it quickly fell back down.

"How do they even do that?" I mused aloud.

I glanced at the alarm clock to my right, noting that it would be time for dinner any minute now. I leaned my neck to one side, earning a loud pop as my body loosened up again. I grabbed a beanie from my desk and pulled it on to cover my matted hair, stashed the helmet in the space between my bed and the wall, and headed towards the dining room.

The large house seemed particularly empty tonight for some reason. My mom's photographs lined the walls in large, ornate frames. Though she was proud of her hobby, this sort of presentation always seemed so extra to me. But hey, I'm no interior designer.

I made my way down to the dining room, confirming my suspicion that I'd be the last to arrive. My parents had already finished cooking, and surely Sora wouldn't miss a meal, even for Kingdom Hearts.

I slowed my pace a little as I approached the large table, not in any hurry to interact with Sora just yet. I loved my brother, but he's always been so...intense. Intense in a way that I didn't really know how to handle him. And God forbid you got Sora talking about Kingdom Hearts...you'd be there all night.

I still hadn't decided if I should tell Sora about Kingdom Hearts or not. There was a chance we'd never even run into each other in-game. If we did, would Sora even know it was me? Yeah, most likely. Between using my real name and creating my avatar the way I did, there was no way Sora would ignore that coincidence. That would be a dead giveaway.

But I didn't want to be babysat through the game - with all the time he put into it, Sora must be an insanely high level, probably on par with some of the stronger members of Organization 13. And if he had the Keyblade, that must mean he was a badass. It put all of Sora's rambling about the Keyblade in a totally different light, now that I knew how special it was.

I took my seat next to Sora at the large table, a huge pot of pasta at the center, and our mother was distributing it evenly among the four plates.

"Thanks for joining us finally, Roxas," Dad teased, closing his newspaper and setting it to the side of his plate.

"Sorry. Was working on some homework," I lied. Sora looked up from his plate for only a moment to acknowledge his twin.

"What class?" he asked.

"Physics. We have a test next week, I was finishing the study guide." None of that was true - I'm not even sure where the lie even came from, it just sort of poured out naturally.

"This is why you should've taken Astronomy for that credit, it's so much easier," Sora joked. I just shrugged and Sora thanked Mom as she served his plate, immediately diving in.

Sora was already choking down his food faster than he could chew it, a sight I tried to ignore. Knowing the answer, I was still curious to hear Sora speak on it now that he had a little context.

"What are you in such a rush for?" I asked.

Sora gargled something through a mouthful of pasta. "Sora, for God's sake, don't talk with your mouth full," Dad criticized. Sora swallowed quickly, and muttered a brief apology.

"Me and my Guild are going on a raid when I get back. Huge Heartless in Agrabah," he explained. I wasn't familiar with Agrabah, no doubt one of the many "worlds" in Kingdom Hearts, but the task seemed like a daunting one. Surely not something I could handle yet.

"You and this game, Sora, I swear," Mom sighed. "You should focus more on your studies."

"I do all my homework and my grades are fine," Sora assured them. "Why does it matter if I play video games in my spare time?"

I groaned quietly and continued to eat in silence. I'd heard this argument a thousand times. Our parents were very straight-laced and traditional, and wanted to make sure that me and Sora grew up to be "respectable members of society" and all that. Sora got most of the attention from them because he was the loud one, and in some cases, a bit of a troublemaker. He was never mean spirited - in fact, it was quite the opposite. He was so friendly, and loud, and boisterous, that he sometimes had a habit of getting on people's nerves.

"Your brother's grades are well above yours, and it's because he doesn't waste his time on these games of yours," he scolded. I winced - again, an argument I'd heard too many times. It's true, I had excellent grades, but surely I'd catch the same criticism if they knew I was playing the game now, too.

Sora finished his meal long before any of us. He rolled his eyes and stood up from the table, grabbing his plate. "Thanks for dinner. Gotta run," Sora announced, departing quickly through the kitchen to drop his plate off in the sink. Our parents sighed in unison and returned to their meals, exchanging small-talk between bites.

I remained silent through the rest of the meal, finishing at about the same time as Mom and Dad. Mom stood and grabbed the empty plates, stacking them on top of each other and going into the kitchen.

"So Roxas, school's going well?" Dad asked. I nodded. "Don't get distracted like your brother does. Video games, girls, all of that. Your education comes first."

I blinked - Sora was distracted by a girl? That didn't seem like him. It's possible that his father was just speaking theoretically, but I really wasn't sure.

"I know, Dad," I tried to assure him. Dad nodded, and I excused myself to go back to my room.

I closed the door behind me, locking my bedroom door. In truth, I didn't have any homework, so I made my way over and powered on my computer. I wanted to know more about this world of Kingdom Hearts. I pulled up Chrome and found my way to the Kingdom Hearts Wiki.

I tried learning everything there was to know about Kingdom Hearts - the worlds, the Heartless, these "Nobody" creatures I hadn't yet encountered. The quest system was fairly straightforward, and I made a point to jot down a few of the early quests you can pick up in Traverse Town. Some easy early-level experience couldn't hurt, and I'd need all the help I can get to get on par with the rest of Organization 13.

Suddenly I noticed that I had an unread e-mail. It was odd, since nobody really e-mailed me and I had spam filters for _days_ , so I pulled up my inbox to check the message. I didn't recognize the sending e-mail address, but I went ahead and opened it anyway.

_Roxas,_

_Your first mission as part of Organization 13 is to begin leveling up as quickly as possible. For us to make proper use of your skills and your Keyblade, you'll need to be a much higher level than you are now. I'm having one of your Guildmates meet you at our HQ tomorrow at 4:00 PST - make sure you are logged in at that time so that you can begin your training._

_\- Xemnas_

I scanned over the message a few more times just to make sure I understood what was happening. He was being partnered with someone in the guild? This guy (or girl, if it's that Larxene character) must have been a ton of levels above me. They might be even stronger than Marluxia.

I went back to reading about Kingdom Hearts, this time checking community forums to learn more about the players of this game. I was curious about one thing in particular. I found the Reddit forum and went to the top of the search bar, and typed in the word "Keyblade".

The community seemed split on the issue. The Keyblades were apparently the strongest class of weapon in the game, equally balanced in physical and magical damage, but with options of weapons that had extremes in either category. Knowledge about them was fairly limited, as it seems Keyblade wielders were notoriously tight-lipped on the issue as far as exact stats and quests related to Keyblades. It seems there were also quests that could only be tackled by people with the "Keyblade Mastery" skill, and only a few were even known to the larger community.

Overall, the tone in the community seemed to be one of envy. Players who didn't have Keyblades seemed to scoff at those who had them, calling them "lucky" and that luck was the only thing that made them powerful, not their own strength. That definitely explained some of the looks I was getting in town earlier today.

That put a question mark as to why the guild was so eager to bring me in. Did they want the power of the Keyblade for themselves? Or did they truly see potential in me? It was impossible to say.

I went back up to the search bar and typed in "Organization 12" just to see what the community had to say. Again, it seemed to be a controversial topic - Organization 12 (it hadn't yet been updated to 13) appeared to be the strongest guild in KH of non-Keyblade wielders, only beaten out by one guild that was apparently made up entirely of Keyblade Masters.

Half of the community seemed to respect them for having such strength despite not having Keyblades, and saw them as celebrities. Others saw them as villains - players who monopolized spawn locations of powerful Heartless just to level themselves up, and a group that wouldn't share details of rare quests to get powerful gear. I wasn't sure which side to take - at the end of the day, I didn't really know them. Because I was part of them now, though, I immediately felt defensive.

I glanced down at the time in the bottom right corner of the computer screen, surprised by the time. I had no idea so much time had passed, and only then I noticed it was nearly 3 in the morning. I switched off my computer monitor and crossed the room, crawling into bed.

For a moment I wondered if I closed my eyes, if I'd suddenly be in the world of Kingdom Hearts again. Part of me hoped so, but when my eyes closed and I drifted off, all I encountered was the darkness of a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note: I know that up to here has been a lot of world-building and minimal Axel, but that's all over! Starting next chapter (to be uploaded on January 31), Axel will finally be showing up haha. Thank you for being patient with me while I set the scene! I'll see you all then.


	4. The Introduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops! Almost forgot to update today. Let's do this!

I was too excited as school finally let out, waving goodbye to my friends and jumping onto my skateboard. I dug my phone and earbuds out of my pocket and turned on some music, zoning out as I tried to make my trip home from school feel as short as possible. Something in my stomach felt hot and tight, ready to get back into the world of Kingdom Hearts.

As instructed by Xemnas, the guild leader, today I was to meet up with my new partner to start grinding for experience to level me up as quickly as possible. I wasn't sure what that would entail - more basic combat practice against weak Heartless like Zexion had shown me, or if this would be actual questing. Either way, I was ready for whatever they threw at me.

Once home, I noticed that neither of my parents' cars were home, and Sora had plans with some friends from school, so I had the house all to myself for a few hours. Mom left a note on the counter, saying that she and my father were going out for dinner, and beside the note was some money to order food. Deciding to save that for later, I quickly grabbed a snack from the kitchen and ate it on the way up to my bedroom. As I finished off the small bag of chips, I tossed it into the trashcan in the corner of my bedroom and locked the door behind me before climbing into bed and logging back into Kingdom Hearts.

I blinked the spots out of my eyes, glancing around. Right, I was still in the throne room of Organization 12...or, 13. All the thrones now sat empty, so I scanned the sides of the room for an exit.

I didn't get the chance to explore the base after everything that happened. When I found the door, I passed through and the scenery immediately shifted as he entered the new area. Rather than the stark white room, the new room was much darker in tone. The floor and walls were a blue-purple color with furniture of a slightly lighter tone. It was mostly empty except for one occupant, Zexion, who had taken one of the lounge chairs and was flipping through that book again.

"Zexion! You're my partner?" I asked, slightly excited that it was a familiar face. Zexion peered up at me, brushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"I am not," he said, somewhat annoyed. "I'm waiting for my idiotic and perpetually late teammate."

As if on cue, a dark portal appeared and a lanky sort of guy stepped out. I recognized him from the meeting yesterday as being one of the nicer ones, but I couldn't think of his name. Didn't he mention something about a guitar?

"Sup new guy," he said with a smile. He grinned widely and waved at me. "I'm Demyx."

Right, that was the name. "Nice to meet you," I greeted. "I don't suppose _you're_ my partner?"

"Nope, I'm here for Zexy," Demyx grinned.

"Do _not_ call me that," Zexion growled. I smiled awkwardly at the exchange.

"If not you, then who is it?"

"I think they put you with Axel," Demyx said, scratching at his chin thoughtfully. "If so, good luck with that guy. Make sure you bring your own potions."

That wasn't very comforting. Before I could inquire further, a flash of light appeared on my right as someone logged in. I recognized him immediately - the redhead from the meeting who had a strange exchange with Demyx.

"Sup," he greeted, nodding at the other three in the room.

"I take it you're Axel?" Roxas asked, raising an eyebrow at the lanky figure. The redhead nodded, huge spikes bouncing lightly.

"The one and only. Got it memorized?" he smirked, crossing his arms and straightening his posture confidently. I immediately got a bad taste in my mouth from this guy - he seemed plenty sure of himself.

Demyx snickered a little. "A match made in heaven. Go easy on the kid, Axel."

"I promise nothing," Axel swore. "So, power leveling with a Keyblade Master. Should be fun!"

Axel extended his arm and created a dark portal, gesturing for me to enter. I instinctively shot a nervous glance back at Demyx and Zexion. The former gave a thumbs up, and the latter ultimately ignored me and continued scrolling through his menu.

Regardless, I stepped inside, and Axel followed closely behind.

When the darkness cleared from my vision I was in Traverse Town again, Axel hot on my heels. The square was a bit less populated than when I first logged in, but there were still quite a few players hanging around.

"First thing you'll want to do is pick up a few of the early-level fetch quests. They're a cinch and will give you a nice boost to be able to start using magic," Axel explained. "Oh, let's form a party."

Axel swiped his hand down, long fingers scrolling through his menu and typing something in. A prompt appeared in front of me.

 _Axel has invited you to join his Party. Will you accept?_ followed by Yes and No options. I clicked the Yes button. Suddenly towards the top left corner of my vision, a small image of Axel's face appeared next to a small health bar. Beside Axel's face was a small number: "77".

"You're level 77?" I asked. Axel nodded

"And you're level 3. Don't worry - party members will share experience gained from defeating enemies. That way we can fight higher level Heartless and boost you up way faster," Axel explained.

"So that's what we're doing?"

Axel shook his head. "Not yet. First, quests."

The two of us walked through Traverse Town, and Axel guided me to a lot of the NPC's throughout the social area. I was already planning on doing this, but it was nice having someone to show me around to save time. A lot of these were the quests I found yesterday on the Wiki, but Axel guided me to a few I hadn't seen.

For the next couple hours, Axel and I bounced all around Traverse Town. Most of the quests required going to kill specific Heartless until they dropped items to bring back. Mostly Shadows and Soldiers, and then making regular trips back to Traverse Town to heal and drop off items for these quests.

As I turned in the quests, my level started to rise very quickly. Within two hours I'd gone all the way from Level 3 to Level 10. Alongside the Level Up notification for 10, I received a prompt to start a new quest called "Merlin's Magic."

"Awesome," Axel smiled. "So now we need to go to the Third District so you can unlock magic."

I nodded - I'd yet to travel past the Second District. Zexion had mentioned something yesterday about that district having stronger Heartless, but I guess with Axel I didn't have anything to worry about. Axel lead the way and the pair of us made our way towards the Second District, which you apparently need to pass through to reach the quest location.

"So how are you liking the game so far?" Axel asked, appearing to try and force small talk. I still hadn't totally warmed up to the guy - something about his tone was weirdly condescending in a way that I just couldn't look past.

"It's okay. A little monotonous," I admitted. Axel snickered a little. It was true - running back and forth endlessly in the same two areas just to fetch items and run back to town wasn't exactly the recipe for the time of my life.

"Early levels are like that. Once you can fly around, teleport, and shoot fire out of your fingertips, your tone will change pretty quickly," Axel explained jokingly.

"You can fly here?" I asked, heart suddenly feeling lighter.

"Sure can. Not _here_ here, but in Neverland you can. You'll want to be around Level 30 before we tackle that, though," Axel explained. That was less good news - now all I could think about was flying.

We made our way to the Third District without incident. From what I could see on the map, the area seemed to be much smaller than the Second District, but there was a large square at the center of it. Axel and I descended the stairs, Keyblade gripped tightly in hand. We rounded the corner and turned to face the large, empty square.

"Okay. There is _definitely_ a boss fight here," I commented aloud. Axel chuckled.

"Yup. It's a bitch, too," Axel joked. "But we'll get to that later. Come on, through this door."

Axel pointed at a large door off to the left with a fire symbol printed on the front. Axel approached it first and brought his palm up to face the door, and a small bolt of fire jumped from his palm and connected with the door's surface. There was a faint beeping sound, and the door slid upwards.

"You need magic to get in?" I asked. "How are you supposed to get here if you don't have magic yet?"

"There's a really long and annoying way to get in through the sewers, but who has time for that?" Axel shrugged. "Come on, it's just through here."

We passed into the next area. On the other side of the door stood a large cavern - most of the room was filled with water, and there were several platforms in the water that were swaying from left to right at varying speeds. At the far side of the platforms stood a small, decrepit house. It appeared to be falling apart and there was a huge hole in the side of the house, obscured only by a single sheet.

Another player was here, attempting to jump across the platforms and failing, falling into the water with a huge splash. Axel laughed and gestured for me to follow along, and began leaping from platform to platform with ease.

I hesitated a bit, but not wanting to fall behind, followed closely behind Axel. He didn't seem keen on waiting for me, even jumping straight over the other player's head on his way to the house. I did everything I could just to keep pace, but after about a minute, the pair of us stood right in front of the house. "In here," Axel said, pointing out the obvious.

We found our way inside. The home was vastly different on the inside, filled with warm lighting. At the center stood a tall man in a pointed hat and a long beard. Above his head there was a small exclamation point, indicating that he was an NPC that would advance a quest.

I approached the NPC and it began to speak. "So, you wish to learn of magic? Before you can begin to understand this power, you must prove that you already understand your physical power. A powerful Heartless is causing in trouble in the Third District - defeat it, and you will know power that you have never dreamed of!"

My quest updated, instructing me to return to the Third District. Axel tilted his head to one side and cracked his neck. "Alright, let's do this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we have it! Now that Axel has properly been introduced, things are about to start getting interesting. I'll see you all on Feburary 4 with the next chapter!


	5. The Boss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops! Sorry this chapter is a day late, I ended up having to take off work yesterday and I usually upload from my work computer haha. We're back on schedule, next chapter will go up on Thursday the 7th. See ya then!

Axel lead the way back out into the Third District. As we approached the square, Axel held up a hand, motioning for me to stop. "Did you bring any potions?" Axel asked.

I checked my inventory. I picked up a few potions from the Soldiers during his leveling, so I nodded back at Axel.

"Good. You're gonna need them," Axel murmured. "Let's go."

The two of us walked out into the square. As we crossed the barrier into the third district, the game's background music cut out. I hadn't even been fully aware that there _was_ background music until it was gone. Axel and I walked closer to the center of the square, and once we were about ten feet from the middle, something changed.

Walls of light surrounded the square, extending high into the sky. I ran to the barrier and slammed my hand against it. It was completely solid, yet when pressing against it with my hand, it felt like I wasn't touching anything at all. It was hard to describe in words.

"This can't be good," I muttered, and Axel laughed.

"You think? Take a look," Axel teased.

I spun around to face the center of the square. Axel was scrolling through his menu and equipping his weapons - suddenly I realized that Axel hadn't been using his weapons before, only fire magic on the weak Heartless we encountered in the Second District.

A huge CLANG rang out that nearly made me jump right out of my digital skin (Axel didn't even flinch, the bastard). About twenty feet to the right, a huge metal cylinder had fallen from the sky, slamming hard into the ground.

Soon after, other pieces began to descend. What appeared to be gloves and boots, also made of metal, fell one by one, and then a sphere that had to be the helmet.

"What is that?" I asked.

"That, dear Roxas," Axel began. "Is Guard Armor."

The pieces began to float, all hovering around the first cylinder that I realized wasn't a _perfect_ cylinder, but must have functioned as the torso.

The top of my vision showed a huge health bar extending the length of my vision, and just below it read "Guard Armor", just as Axel said.

"So this is the boss..." I gulped. I summoned the Kingdom Key, gripping it tightly with two hands, trembling only a tiny bit with either excitement or anxiety (maybe both). My eyes traveled back over to Axel who had finished with his menu, and drew his weapons.

He flexed his hands and circles of fire appeared just inches from his palms. They spun rapidly, and as the flames dissipated, two circular, spiked weapons appeared. He twirled them a bit, as if getting a feel for the weight.

I'd never seen weapons like that before. I also didn't realize that dual-wielding was a mechanic in KH, but it certainly looked cool.

"Ready to go?" Axel asked excitedly.

"You're not nervous?"

"Why would I be? This is the best part!" Axel grinned maniacally. I'd never seen a look like that on Axel's face - he always maintained that cocky look, but now it had transformed into genuine excitement.

A metallic screech rang through the square, and my attention was torn away from Axel's face and back to the massive Heartless before us. The two of us exchanged a quick glance, and charged together.

It was a hard fight. It moved surprisingly fast for its size and blocking was almost impossible with all the weight behind those gauntlets. It became a process of dealing as much damage as possible, dodging when I could, and running away every so often to heal.

Axel didn't need to heal though - his STR stat must have been a lot higher because even with those small weapons, he had no trouble blocking Guard Armor's attacks. It had only landed one or two hits on him, but where Axel was such a high level, it had hardly damaged him at all.

I'd already burned through two potions when the creature's health had dropped to a quarter. Its gauntlets had already been destroyed, and I swung my Keyblade hard and smashed the last boot to pieces. Now it was just a floating head and torso.

And then it started to spin - fast. Faster than I could even keep up with. In an instant the Heartless launched itself towards me, trying to body slam me and that insane speed.

I froze. All I could do was raise the Keyblade in a lame attempt to block the attack, knowing full well that I was going to take damage anyway. I squeezed my eyes tight and braced for impact.

Metal struck metal, but I stayed still. I peeked with one eye, and I saw red spikes being blown back from the force of the attack, but Axel staying firmly in place.

He was holding Guard Armor back with just his weapons, spinning in the opposite direction that Guard Armor was spinning. He held them against the onslaught of attacks from Guard Armor, who spun in place and forced itself against Axel's defense.

"You attack, I block!" Axel shouted over the sounds of screeching metal. I was completely dumbfounded, frozen in place and unable to even process what Axel had said. "You just gonna stand there, Roxas?!"

Axel saved me..

I tightened my grip and jumped - higher than I thought I could, definitely higher than possible in the real world, and brought the Keyblade down hard onto Guard Armor's helmet. It stumbled back (floated back?), and so I quickly followed up with a slash across its midsection.

It seemed to regain its bearings and lunged out to body slam, but Axel was there, throwing himself between me and the Heartless to block the attack. We all fell into a rhythm - damage was slower now that Axel was playing defense, but I stopped taking damage entirely now that Axel had my back.

Little by little I chipped away at Guard Armor's health. On its last leg (figuratively speaking), I charged past Axel and thrust the Kingdom Key forward in a stabbing motion. It pierced through the armor and both I and the monster froze - Guard Armor's HP fell to zero, and it evaporated into darkness.

I gained a bunch of EXP, Munny, and an update on his quest to return to Merlin. I breathed a sigh of relief and fell back onto the ground, Keyblade falling onto the ground and vanishing in a flash of light.

"We did it," I mused aloud, scarcely believing it. Axel walked over and extended a hand to help me off the ground. I thanked Axel as climbed back to my feet, brushing myself off.

"Roxas, fight fight fight," Axel teased, amusement dripping from his words. "Who knew you had it in you?"

I smiled a little, shrugging. "I sure didn't."

Axel smiled - less cocky this time, replaced instead by actual warmth. I hadn't seen him smile like that before - it had the same energy as his grin before the fight, just less manic.

"Come on. Let's finish the quest, and I'll show you something cool," Axel said. I nodded, smiling back up at him.

The pair of us made our way back to Merlin's house and completed the quest, giving me access to the "Fire" spell. Axel said it would take a little practice getting it to work, but said we could work on it together. Mentioning that, Axel flashed that smile again.

Once the quest was finished, Axel opened a portal, and this time I didn't hesitate to step inside.

The world on the other side was definitely not Traverse Town. The buildings, the light - everything was different than what I'd seen so far.

Everything seemed to be in varying shades of orange - even the sky. Sunset was upon them, which lined up with the real world, as it must have been getting close to 7. I checked my map to learn this place's name.

"Twilight Town," I spoke aloud. "Are we in another world?"

Axel nodded. "That's right. Twilight Town is mostly a social and shopping area, but it's one of my favorite places. I want to show you something."

Axel gestured for me to follow, and the two of us headed further into town.

The town was noticeably less populated than Traverse Town, but there were still a decent amount of players wandering about. These players, however, did seem to be higher level than the other players, which was only natural since that was the starting town.

"How do people travel between worlds before they can teleport?" Roxas asked.

"You can fly between them in Gummi Ships, but those are pretty pricey," Axel began. "But there are pathways you can use to go from one world to another. Like this world - there are two portals you can use. One leads to the World That Never Was, where our base is, and one that leads to Agrabah."

We arrived at a small stand in the square, flanked by accessory shops and armor shops. Just from glancing inside, this all seemed to be way outside my price range. I made a mental note to do some shopping when I found myself back in Traverse Town.

Axel accessed a menu at the stand and purchased two of something that I couldn't see, as it was directly deposited into his inventory. "What's that?" I asked, but Axel didn't answer.

"Follow me," he said. I raised an eyebrow at him but followed anyway.

We made our way through Twilight Town. This place was beautiful, peaceful - no rampart Heartless, no dueling players. It was like a normal town, just without the cars. People were talking, laughing, having a good time.

Axel was smiling as we walked, but I couldn't figure out why. His face had been stuck in that kind little smile ever since the boss fight.

We turned at the end of the street and appeared in a large, open square at the base of a clock tower. I had seen it from a distance, but underestimated its size until we were right at the bottom staring up at it. I craned my neck to view it in its entirety, and felt a smile creep onto my face for some reason.

Axel told me that there was a door at the base of the tower off to their left. We walked over and opened it up, and made our way into the stairwell.

Climbing all of those stairs took a couple of minutes, a lot of ground to cover to get up to the top. Axel didn't seem to get winded at all - I wondered if there was an invisible Stamina stat, or if I was just out of shape.

Soon enough we reached the top and Axel opened another door leading back outside. He left it open behind him and stepped aside, allowing me to follow suit.

The view was breathtaking. The Clocktower was by far the highest point in town, and being up here allowed you to look out on the whole area. The tile rooftops created a landscape, broken up by the wide, open streets and orange-tinted bricks. The bright, beautiful sun cast a glowing warmth on the entire town, and I felt at ease.

"This is my favorite place in Kingdom Hearts," Axel said. "Most players don't know how to get up here, or don't care enough to take the time. I like coming after a good fight to unwind."

Axel accessed his menu and scrolled through a few screens, and a menu popped up for me. " _Axel would like to trade with you. Will you accept?_ "

"What's this?" I asked.

"Just do it!"

I accepted the trade, still unsure of what Axel was doing. A menu appeared that showed that Axel was giving one item to me. The name of the item was "Sea Salt Ice Cream". I didn't know what that was, but I still accepted the trade and the item was deposited into my inventory. I retrieved the item, and it materialized in my hand. Axel did the same.

"Ice cream? I didn't know this world had ice cream," I said. Axel took a seat, steadying himself with his free hand and dangling his feet off the edge of the tower.

I joined him, only about a foot between us. My gaze traveled back to the horizon, drinking in the warm light of the sun. It was so amazing how I could feel the warmth of it on my face, and how that feeling wasn't in the parts of my body covered in clothes.

The detail put into this game never ceased to amaze me.

"You know, ice cream doesn't take long to expire," Axel noted. "Food items have a set time before they go bad - you've only got a few more minutes before that bites the dust."

I had nearly forgotten about it, looking down at the sky blue ice cream in his hand. I brought it up to my mouth and licked the top of it.

It was strange - I felt the cold, and I could taste the flavor, yet it was obviously not real ice cream in a way that I couldn't really explain in words. What was it that made this so different? Perhaps the taste wasn't _quite_ right, or maybe it just wasn't intense enough to match that of real ice cream.

Still...it was really good.

"I feel like most players wouldn't waste the time to unwind like this in the virtual world..." I mused. Axel peered over at me expectantly. "Most people would just log out and go eat real ice cream."

"True," Axel admitted sheepishly. "But where could you get a view like this in the real world?"

I grinned and nodded in agreement. We exchanged small talk for a while and enjoyed the ice cream.

Slowly but surely, I was starting to realize that Axel wasn't all that bad. At the end of it, Axel was just...intense. More intense than me, for sure. In a few weird ways, he kind of reminded me of Sora.

"Hey, can I ask you something I've been curious about?" I asked. Axel was finishing up his ice cream, but raised an eyebrow to me. "In the meeting yesterday, the guy with the eyepatch..."

"Xigbar," Axel informed him.

"Xigbar," I echoed. "He said something about Organization 13 being the second strongest guild in Kingdom Hearts. Who's the strongest?"

Axel finished the ice cream, leaving only the stick it had been on. The stick shattered, as items do in KH when they've been used up or broken, and faded into nothing.

Axel sighed. "The Warriors of Light. They're a small guild, only six members that I know of. We've been rivals forever."

"How does a guild half the size of us manage to be the strongest guild?" I inquired. "I feel like we could take them."

"You'd think, wouldn't you?" Axel scoffed. I could tell this was a sore subject among the Organization. "But every single one of them is a Keyblade Master."

Whoa. If Keyblade Masters were supposed to be rare, how could _six_ of them be in one Guild? That must have been a lot of power all together.

"If it were just five of them, honestly we could probably take them," Axel noted. "The leader, Mickey, really isn't all that. But there's this one guy...nobody's ever seen a player like him before. Strongest player I've ever seen; some doofus named Sora."

The sentence ripped through my mind like a blade. _Sora?!_ Sora was supposed to be the strongest player in Kingdom Hearts?! I could barely believe it - whatever Sora had spent all this time doing, it must have paid off.

Could it be a coincidence? Could someone else's username be Sora, like they got to it before him? It was too much of a coincidence. Sora was definitely a Keyblade wielder, and with how much he played...it added up.

"What makes Sora so strong?" I asked, wanting to learn as much as possible about my brother in this world.

"Well to start with, he's just an insanely high level," Axel said. "He's at nearly the max level you can be at in Kingdom Hearts. And he has a crazy ability that nobody else has seen before."

"Which is?"

"Complicated," Axel said. "Truth be told, I haven't witnessed it myself. But he was able to take out Luxord, Marluxia, _and_ Larxene without even dropping to half health."

"Jesus Christ."

Axel nodded. "That's the unfortunate truth of Kingdom Hearts. We can level up all day long, get the best gear in the game, do all of that, but in the face of Keyblade Masters, it doesn't really amount to much."

I turned my eyes back to the horizon, still processing everything he had said. I could never have imagined Sora - stupid little Sora - was the strongest player in Kingdom Hearts. Plus whatever this unique skill he has, it must have been crazy.

I extended my arm and drew the Kingdom Key, just taking in the sight of it. "Is this why Xemnas asked me to join? Just...because of this?" I asked.

I glanced back over at Axel who simply nodded. "We don't invite noobs to our Guild because it's hard to tell who's really in it for the long haul. You could stop playing by next week, lots of players don't reach the levels we're at. But why not give it a shot to have a Keyblade on our side of the fight?"

Suddenly I felt dirty - used. I couldn't exactly blame Xemnas for making the call - if this Keyblade was as strong as they said, I might have done the same in Xemnas' position. But heat gathered in my gut, an emotion I couldn't quite label. Anger? I wasn't angry at anyone, but it felt weirdly similar to that.

"I'm going to fight," I said. "If I have this Keyblade, I'll put it to good use."

Axel snorted. "You sound like Sora."

"You've met him?"

"Once," Axel confirmed. "Here in Twilight Town, actually. You'd never know looking at him that he was such a powerhouse."

We chatted for a little bit longer on a lighter subject - quests and whatnot. We laid out a game plan to grind like crazy the next day to boost me up as many levels as possible. Axel said that he would pull some strings and see if he could get any info on where to acquire more Keyblades. Unlike other weapons, Keyblades can only be obtained through quests, and only those with the Keyblade Mastery skill can even view them.

"Alright, we should probably get back to base to log out. It's getting late, and I'm starving," Axel said. I glanced at the clock in the corner of my vision. It was nearly 8:00 - we'd been logged in for almost five hours, and I hadn't eaten dinner .Sora was surely wondering why I was being so quiet in my room, so I agreed and stood from our perch on the edge of the tower.

Axel opened a portal, and the two of us stepped through. Back in the Organization's HQ, I noticed that we were alone.

"Hey Axel, when do I get one of the cool coats?" I asked.

"When you're a high enough level to equip one," Axel explained. "You have to have leveled your Dark Magic skill, and need an overall level of 40."

"40?!" I groaned.

Axel laughed and planted a hand on top of my head, ruffling the spikes. "Don't worry, Roxas. You'll be there before you know it."

My voice caught and Axel just continued to laugh. He fell silent, and Axel silently saluted Roxas, and logged out.

I sat there for a few moments, alone. My hand came up and touched my hair where Axel had touched it, still tingling. I shook the feeling out of my stomach and logged out.

Light poured into my vision as I arrived back in the real world. I pulled the helmet off and set it aside, sitting up in bed lazily.

I ran my fingers through my matted hair, feeling the spot where Axel had touched me in Kingdom Hearts. I could still feel it - how real it felt. I wasn't sure why it felt tingly.

I stood up, stretched, and rolled my shoulders. I always felt so stiff after playing Kingdom Hearts. I thought for a moment about stretching before a long session, but that seemed rather silly.

Something caught my eye at the corner of my vision - my phone was lit up on the end table next to my bed. I checked the message, seeing it was from Sora.

 _Pizza's downstairs when you wake up!_ it read. Sora must have made his own decision about food while I was "asleep", which was fair enough. I unlocked the door and made my way down to the kitchen to get something to eat.

The pizza had gotten cold, but I didn't mind and put two slices on a plate. The house was mostly dark - Mom and Dad probably weren't back yet, so Sora was no doubt in his room, either playing Kingdom Hearts or watching TV. I made my way back upstairs towards my room.

I stopped in front of my door for a moment, but on a whim decided to go a little further down to Sora's room. Sora never locked his door, so I opened it gently just to see what Sora was up to.

To no surprise, Sora's room was a complete disaster. Sora had apparently taken a _box_ of pizza and eaten half of it, the remainders still in the box lying open on the ground. He was lying on his disheveled bed, helmet on, and completely still, no doubt fighting Heartless or Nobodies, or whatever.

I moved silently, hesitantly, for a moment forgetting that no amount of noise could wake Sora up unless he decided to log out. I glanced at Sora's helmet - it had taken much more of a beating than mine had. What had once been shiny plastic had faded with fingerprints and small scratches, the visor smudged as well.

 _This...is the strongest player in Kingdom Hearts..._ I thought. Then again, I suspect a lot of the 'hardcore' players looked pretty much like this, too.

I didn't want to disturb him, or to be caught in his room if Sora were to suddenly log out. I went back to my own room to do some research.

Newly determined, I took my seat at my computer and pulled up the Wiki to keep reading. I had a new mission now - I wanted to beat Sora.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're finally getting somewhere hahaha. See you Thursday!


	6. The Reveal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops! Where I was off work Monday it sort of messed with my schedule in my head, but I promise this time we are ACTUALLY back on schedule. Let's get to it!

After a long day of school, I was impatient to get back into the world of Kingdom Hearts. Sora had plans with his friends again so I skated home alone, went straight into my room, slammed the door shut and threw on my VR helmet.

I waited in the Organization 13 base, tapping my foot rhythmically as I waited for Axel to log in. I liked to think I'm a patient person - I was never in any huge rush, and generally understood if people were running behind.

However...two whole hours, and Axel still hadn't showed. That was kind of pushing it. Suddenly I regretted being so hasty to log in, because now I was just _sitting_ there.

"I'm not sure he's coming," Demyx noted. Demyx seemed to have been relaxing for the day, just chilling out in the base, messing around with his Sitar. I sighed, scratching the back of my head.

"I wish he would've just told me," I complained. "I'm trying to level up so that I can actually be of some use to the guild, and Axel said he was going to help me get a stronger Keyblade."

Demyx shrugged from the corner of the room. "I don't know, dude. Maybe something came up in the real world?"

I gritted my teeth. Just when I had finally started to warm up to that cocky bastard, he goes and pulls something like this.

Frustrated, I drew my Keyblade, gripping it tightly. If Axel wasn't going to show up and help, I would grind some levels by myself.

"You don't wanna go out that way!" Demyx called out as I headed for the base's exit. "There are high-level Nobodies all over this world. You'll die, like, instantly at your level."

"I'll be fine!" I snapped, barely even registering what Demyx had yelled. I exited the base.

I'd never explored The World That Never Was before. The only time I'd ever been here was via portal, either thanks to Zexion or Axel. I'd also never encountered these "Nobodies", but apparently they were stronger than most Heartless. But I'd gone toe-to-toe with Guard Armor, so surely I could handle some Nobodies.

A few white figures gathered in the distance, twitching and swirling around strangely on the ground. Their movements were unnatural, jagged, bizarre. I remembered seeing these things while reading the KH Wiki, but I couldn't quite remember what they were called. Dawns? No, Dusks. These were Dusks.

They were some of the weaker Nobody enemies, if memory served. That was good enough for me - I raised the Keyblade high and charged at them.

As my footsteps grew louder, the creatures definitely sensed my presence. There were only four of them gathered together - I'd tangled with more Soldiers than that at once, though, so I wasn't bothered.

I swung at the nearest Dusk as it got within arms reach, knocking it aside. I didn't pay any mind to its health bar and immediately swung at another, but it ducked under the Keyblade and slithered under my feet. It re-emerged behind me, smacking one of those slender arms across my back and sending me tumbling to the ground.

I watched as my health bar dropped almost instantly, nearly gone. That was _one_ hit?! Even Guard Armor didn't hit that hard!

Without even realizing I'd begun sweating, though I wasn't sure if that was part of the virtual reality, or if it was my mind playing tricks on me. I rolled away from the group of Nobodies, narrowly missing another attack from a Dusk that surely would've reduced my HP to zero. I deflected another attack, the force of it causing me to nearly lose grip on my Keyblade.

Suddenly I regretted being so impulsive. The Dusks approached slowly as I picked myself off the ground, tightening my grip on the Kingdom Key. As I tried to hold it in front of me, I felt my arms shaking.

There was something different about having low HP in this game as opposed to other games. When you were playing with a controller, it was easy to separate yourself from your avatar as your HP fell. Kingdom Hearts was different - it was a feeling of helplessness that couldn't be pushed down like that, and I tried to shake the nerves away. "Come on, then!" I yelled. One of the Dusks lunged, and I batted it away with the Keyblade (dealing almost no damage), and jumped over the attack of the next Dusk and sprinted away from them.

Now that I wasn't pinned down, a little bit of my confidence returned as I used a potion and bolted down the darkened streets. I could see the castle over the rooftops and made my way there, only just now seeing it from the outside for the first time.

I glanced back, checking to see if I'd lost them, only just in time for a Dusk to smack me across the face and send me tumbling into a wall, the air rushing out of my lungs as I collapsed onto one knee. I felt like I was drenched in sweat, and I took just a moment for a deep breath and stood up, readying my Keyblade once again.

Even more Dusks had gathered, no doubt joining in on the chase, increasing the group to seven of them. I swallowed nervously. "S-Stay back," I stammered. I was weak - and even though he felt no pain in this world, I readied myself to be killed for the first time.

"Roxas!" someone shouted. The Dusks' attention snapped to the source of the voice, and I glanced over to see Demyx charging towards us, Sitar in hand. The Dusks shuttered in place, twitching angrily, and charged at him.

Demyx planted his feet and swung his Sitar around, fingers dancing over the strings. "Dance, water, dance!" he shouted, smiling widely. Huge orbs of water started raining down over the Dusks, and each were defeated immediately as the orbs made contact, draining their health in just one hit.

After only moments, the two of them stood alone. I was still shaking, grip on the Keyblade so tight that my knuckles were white.

Demyx jogged over to my side and pointed the tip of his Sitar at me. "Heal!" he exclaimed. Green light appeared over my head and my HP jumped back up to full. Suddenly that sweaty feeling was gone, and it was as if I'd freshly showered.

"Thanks," I said softly. I unequipped the Keyblade, hands falling limp at my sides, head down.

"I told you, the levels here are way too high," Demyx said. "Let's get you back to base."

I nodded silently, and Demyx escorted me back to Organization 13's base. I couldn't even look up from the ground, embarrassment washing through me. Not that I'd been defeated - no, that I should've (and sort of did) known in advance. But the fact that I'd acted so stupid, and had to be rescued for it.

Once back in the safe zone, Demyx relaxed a little and unequipped his Sitar. We made our way back into the sitting room where Demyx and I immediately parted ways, Demyx approaching Zexion to discuss something with him.

And just like that, I was right back where I started, with only a huge blow to my confidence to show for it. How could I be that useless? I was never going to be able to catch up to the Organization, much less to Sora, at this rate.

Light flashed on the other side of the room - someone logging in. Axel materialized, his huge red spikes bouncing a little as his feet touched the ground.

"Yo, Roxas!" Axel said, waving at him. Heat gathered in my stomach, rising into my throat, and I stomped over to Axel.

"Where have you _been_?!" I asked, yelling more than I meant to. Axel's eyes widened and he stepped back a little. It took a lot for me to get to this level of pissed, but something about being shrugged off by Axel really made him fucking angry.

"Look, I'm sorry, I-"

"I was waiting, and then I tried to go out to farm, and the Nobodies, they..." I trailed off. I flashed back to the image of those creatures descending on him, twitching, their long arms coming to an odd point where there should have been hands. I felt a chill run up my spine.

Why was I getting so worked up over this? Something about those things, and being so helpless to protect myself...I couldn't stand to feel that way again.

"I'm sorry," Axel said. "I got caught up with something in the real world. I'd forgotten, I..." Axel trailed off, his face turning slightly red. I looked up at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"Well? What was so important?" I asked. Axel's cheeks burned red and he turned to the side, covering his eyes with one hand.

"I...had a date."

My entire body went cold. "Seriously? You scheduled a date right in the middle of when we'd agreed to meet?"

"No, I set up our time during when I'd already agreed to a date I forgot about," Axel said. His face was beet red, and he was scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "If it's any consolation, it didn't go well. She won't be interrupting us again anytime soon."

I wasn't even sure how to respond. I bit down on the insides of my cheeks to keep himself from saying anything, or to continue yelling in the middle of the base. Demyx and Zexion were on the other side of the room, and though I didn't dare check, I could feel their eyes on me.

My head dropped, eyes locked on the space between mine and Axel's shoes. I took the back seat to some random girl that Axel didn't even like in the real world - that was a great cherry on top of getting my ass kicked.

"I'm gonna go," I told him. I looked up and saw Axel's defeated expression, and then his face softened, too. I opened my menu, but Axel grabbed my wrist before I could log out.

"Wait, don't," Axel said. "I'm sorry. I honestly had forgotten about this date, and I couldn't really get out of it. But I'm here now, and I want to help."

My eyes darted between Axel and the "Log Out" button. I was mad - madder than I knew I should be over something that probably wasn't even a big deal. But for some reason, Axel blowing me off like that _enraged_ me.

"I got a lead on a Keyblade." My eyes jumped up to Axel who was grinning cockily at me.

Damn it...I closed the menu and folded my arms tightly over my chest.

"Talk."

"Wonderland," Axel began. "It's a fairly low-level world that you can handle solo. Apparently there's a Keyblade quest there you get from the Queen of Hearts that gets you a special Keyblade."

I chewed my bottom lip bottom lip, thinking it over. A new Keyblade would be nice...maybe then I'd be able to level up faster.

"I think-" I trailed off. A blinking red exclamation point appeared in the center of my vision, interrupting my train of thought. "What's this exclamation point?"

"An alert? That means someone is using the button on your helmet to notify you to log out," Axel explained. "Is someone in your room?"

Oh, _shit_. I thought back for a moment - did I lock my door when I got home from school?

"Dammit," I groaned. "It's probably my brother."

"Do you need to log out? We can do that quest tomorrow," Axel assured him. I sighed and nodded, facing the inevitable. "Alright, then. Can you log in after school?"

"Sure, see you then. Later, Axel," I said, momentarily forgetting that I was supposed to be mad at Axel. I went back to my menu and logged out.

As my eyes blinked open back in the real world, I was immediately staring back at two wide, vibrant blue eyes. "Roxas!" Sora yelled. "Were you in a full dive?"

"Obviously," I groaned, pulling my helmet off and sitting up. Sora backed away and invited himself to take a seat at the foot of my bed. "Heard of knocking?"

"I did, but you didn't answer, and I noticed your door was unlocked for once," Sora explained quickly, brain barely able to keep up with how fast his mouth was moving. "But enough about that, you have a VR helmet now! What game were you playing?" Sora asked, reaching to grab the helmet. I couldn't stop him in time for Sora to snatch the helmet away, quickly moving to the back of the helmet where the game was inserted.

Sora read over the name a few times, and his eyes somehow got even wider. " _Kingdom Hearts_! You play Kingdom Hearts now?!"

"I've been dabbling," I said, pulling the helmet back out of his hands. "Just exploring, early level stuff. Getting my ass kicked by Nobodies."

Sora cocked his head. "Nobodies? There aren't any Nobodies in Traverse Town. Where did you find Nobodies?"

Damn, I'd already said too much. For a moment, I'd forgotten who I was talking to - Sora probably knew everything about Kingdom Hearts. But now that Sora knew I was playing, what was the point in keeping more secrets from him?

"I was in The World That Never Was," I explained. "I thought that I'd boost my level faster by fighting stronger enemies. Needless to say, I got my ass kicked."

"The World That Never Was?!" Sora asked, surprised. "Roxas, that's one of the highest level worlds you can visit. It's amazing you survived more than two minutes. Even _I_ don't like to go there without backup."

That isn't surprising - surely if I got whooped easily by some Dusks, stronger Nobodies probably aren't easy for any level.

"If we're getting everything out in the open..." I trailed off, readying for the explosion. "It's probably worth mentioning I have the Keyblade."

Sora's mouth fell open. "Roxas, are you _serious_?! This is AMAZING!"

Sora grinned and bounced in place, his legs folded up under him. I fake smiled, slightly put off by the level of enthusiasm on display. Honestly I'd expect nothing less of Sora, the excitable shit that he was.

"You have to meet my guild! I think everyone is online right now - quick, log back in and go back to Twilight Town," Sora instructed. "I'll invite everyone over, and you can join our Guild, and-"

I stopped him by pushing a hand over Sora's mouth. Sora's eyes widened. "Please, for God's sake, slow down."

"Mrmph," Sora mumbled through my hand, probably an apology. I removed my hand slowly from Sora's mouth.

"I can't. I'm still in the World That Never Was, and I can't teleport yet, so I don't have a way to leave safely," I explained.

"Teleport? Uh uh, that's dark magic," Sora said, shaking his head. "Wait, is that how you got to that world? Who are you with that can use dark magic?"

I sighed. "My guild. Organization 13."

Sora scowled like he smelled something rotten. "Organization 13? Nooo, you can't be with them! Those guys are our biggest rivals, they're dicks! You have to leave that guild, they're no good."

"What? No, I'm not leaving," I snapped back. How could Sora ask him to do that?

Sora blinked. "I'd heard rumors that they'd recruited someone and changed their guild name, but I never would've imagined it was you..." Sora trailed off, standing from my bed and pacing a few steps away. "The Organization, Roxas? Those guys are dicks, why would you join _them_?"

"They helped me," I told him. "I met Zexion in Traverse Town, and he taught me how to fight, and told me about the Keyblade. They were _nice_ to me!"

"I could've taught you all of that!" Sora exclaimed. "And they don't have any Keyblade wielders, they don't know as much about it as I do!"

"And I didn't want you to babysit me!" I snapped back. "I want to play this game on my own terms, in my own way. Organization 13 took me in."

Sora snorted. "To use you! You're probably, what, level 5? They just want your Keyblade so that they can beat _us_!"

"It's not all about you, Sora!" I shouted.

We fell silent, glaring at each other angrily. This couldn't have been what Sora was expecting. Sora was probably expecting a hug, and an agreement for me to join his guild right away. But I made a commitment to Organization 13 - how could Sora expect me to just throw them away like that?

I couldn't claim to be close with any of the members, I'd only been part of their guild for a couple of days. But a commitment was a commitment, and I owed it to them to see it through. Xemnas took me in, Zexion helped me, Demyx had _saved_ me, and Axel...was Axel.

"I'm not leaving Organization 13," I said, standing defiantly. The two of us stood eye-to-eye, each of us staring our own face down like an angry reflection. "They told me all about you, too, Sora. Apparently you're the strongest player in Kingdom Hearts and have some crazy unique skill."

Sora's face hardened, and he nodded. So it was true.

"So if you want to play together, that's fine. Hell, I'll log in tomorrow and meet up with you. But I'm not dropping Organization 13 just because you told me to," I said.

Sora's jaw hardened, mulling it over. Sora opened his mouth to speak, but snapped it shut, and just exited the room without another word.

I slammed the door behind him, making sure to lock it this time.

I couldn't _believe_ Sora! It was just a game - a stupid game - but how could Sora be that selfish to expect me to do everything he said at the drop of a hat?! What kind of self-absorbed prick would just order his brother around like that? I flopped back onto my bed, pulse racing. I couldn't tell why he felt so upset about that.

What was it about the Organization that I felt so attached to? Hell, I only knew half of their names (Just to check, he ran through the faces he knew; Axel, Xemnas, Zexion, Demyx, Xigbar, Larxene, and Marluxia). And truth be told if I _were_ to leave the guild, I wouldn't miss too many of them at all.

Maybe I was just being spiteful. Sora had always been this way - he had major tunnel vision with his goals, and just sort of expected everyone else to follow along. It was never malicious, Sora was just...sort of dense.

Honestly I wasn't sure what it was, but if there were only one trait Sora and I shared, it was stubbornness. I would stick with Organization for as long as they would have me, no matter what Sora said.

I turned off the light to my room, sliding back into bed. I still hadn't eaten anything, but to be honest I didn't really feel like it anymore. It was too early to go to bed, but I also couldn't bring myself to want to log back in.

After a few minutes of quiet, bitter silence, my phone buzzed. An e-mail? I pulled up my inbox anyway to check what had come in.

_From: axelfire424@kh.com_

_yo roxas, its axel from org13...everything cool?_

Wait, Axel? What? I opened a new message to reply.

_To: axelfire424@kh.com_

_Yeah, everything's fine. How did you get my e-mail address?_

I sent the message and locked my phone. Axel replied almost immediately.

_From: axelfire424@kh.com_

_registered email address can be viewed by the guild leader - xem gave it to me so i could keep in touch with you. were partners after all! :)_

I blinked down at this new message, not quite what to make of it. I went to reply, but before I could even type up a full sentence, another e-mail came in.

_From: axelfire424@kh.com_

_email sucks. text me: 5558460838_

I read the number a few times, considering the offer. Ah, what could the harm really be? I saved Axel's number into my phone, and sent Axel a quick text.

**Roxas: Hey, it's Roxas  
Axel: sup  
Roxas: Just family stuff  
Axel: everything alright?  
Roxas: Yeah my brother is just kind of crazy  
Axel: need me to kick his ass? i dont have chakrams or magic in the real world but ill still fight someone lol  
**

I chuckled and replied to Axel. We chatted for a while - I thought about venting to Axel, but wasn't sure if telling him about Sora was a good idea. With little effort I managed to curve the conversation away from that, and back to the game. We texted back and forth long into the night, talking about everything and nothing. Axel didn't mention the real world very much, or anything about his personal life, I noticed. Most of the conversation centered around me or the game.

Hours had passed before I so much as glanced at the time. I learned a lot - we talked about Wonderland and some of Axel's other favorite worlds in Kingdom Hearts, and then I just sort of...talked. About school, about my family, about my brother. Axel seemed genuinely interested in everything I had to say. Well, as interested as one can seem via text.

Around 1 am, I said goodnight to Axel and put my phone down, feeling noticeably less aggravated than I had before seeing Axel's message. I knew my problems weren't solved - when I woke up, Sora would still be mad, and I would have to settle that. But for now, I was content, and needed to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! New chapter goes up Monday, Feb 11, see you all then :)


	7. The Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Just to address something that I've been seeing in the comments: I know there's a POV issue where I sometimes accidentally switch between first and third. When I wrote these chapters originally it was in third person, but I decided to change it over to first before posting. I get most of it but I still catch ones I've missed from time to time, so I'm going back and re-editing my previous chapters to try and resolve the issue for future readers. I don't have anyone to beta these so please forgive me!! Lol anyway, here's the new chapter, hopefully third-person free!

As I stepped back through the portal, Axel was the only reason I didn't fall flat on my face.

Had this not been a virtual world, I would have been covered in sweat and possibly throwing up right now. I've never been particularly athletic, and Kingdom Hearts had been putting me through it. On top of that, I just faced my first solo boss fight which was, for lack of a better term, a complete bitch.

Axel would've helped if he could. But this was a Keyblade Master quest, and could only be accessed by those who had the Keyblade Mastery skill. Part of me wished I had asked Sora for help, but that was not in the cards right now.

Me and Sora had barely spoken since our fight. I left early for school, and rushed home ahead of Sora while he was with his friends. From there, I logged directly into KH (and was always careful to lock the door now).

Me and Axel had taken another day to level up some more before I tried the boss fight, and it paid off. I was level fifteen, and just barely scraped by.

"How was it?" Axel asked. I was still panting, but steadied myself and stood up.

"Annoying," I admitted. "Some big ass Heartless called Trickmaster. It was like thirty feet tall, and juggled."

Axel paused for a moment. "Keyblade quests are weird. But did you get it?"

I nodded. I accessed my menu quickly and equipped my new Keyblade, and drew it to show Axel.

It was called "Lady Luck". It looked totally different from the Kingdom Key aside from the general shape - the keychain had been replaced with a playing card, and what had normally appeared as an actual key looked more like a weapon, complete with a spiked heart on the end of it. Its stats were significantly higher than the Kingdom Key, to my relief.

"Badass. Does it have any magic effects?" Axel asked.

I checked the menu again for the description. "Apparently it increases the drop rates of items from enemies. So more loot?"

"Damn, Keyblades are awesome," Axel said. "I think this is the first time I'm kind of jealous of you." 

"Get used to it. Pretty soon, I'll be able to beat even you," I grinned.

Axel snorted. "Yeah, keep dreaming, blondie.". 

We started walking back through Wonderland. Axel knew his way around the confusing forests, and I followed closely behind. I took the opportunity to try out the new Keyblade on some Heartless in the area, and immediately noticed the difference a better weapon made.

"Gonna be tough finding more Keyblades," Axel said. "There's only one other one I know about, and you're way too low a level for the Coliseum."

I chewed on that for a second. Sora must know all kinds of stuff about the Keyblade, and how I could get stronger. I hadn't told anyone about my brother yet, not even Axel. What could I say? "My brother is the strongest player in Kingdom Hearts and also your biggest rival"?

On one hand, none of that was my fault. Sora was a separate person, and his decisions were his own. On the other hand, what would they think of me after that? For keeping this secret, and for knowing that I could potentially defect to my brother's guild at any time? The thought made me squirm; because of what happened with Sora, I knew I never wanted to join the Warriors of Light for the sake of pride alone.

"Yo, Roxas, you still in there?" Axel asked. I blinked, snapped back to (virtual) reality. Axel watched me closely, concerned.

"Yeah, just tired," I admitted. "I think I'm ready to call it for today."

Axel nodded. "Ice cream first?"

"Definitely."

"Sweet! Let's cut through Agrabah, my MP is running low." Axel guided us back towards the castle to turn in the quest to the Queen of Hearts for some extra experience. I leveled up to Level 16, and we headed back to the portal to Agrabah.

As soon as we stepped through, I was already thirsty. The world seemed to be mostly desert, the city of Agrabah itself seemed particularly dry and dusty. NPC's stood in wooden stalls selling various goods, and a few players walked through the Bazaar.

"It's hot here," I commented, stating the obvious.

"You get used to it," Axel shrugged. I glanced up at him, wondering how Axel was even able to breathe in that heavy black coat of is. I don't how the game handled heavy clothing like that, but it didn't seem like it was cool.

We kept moving through the city of Agrabah. I asked if there were anywhere here we could pick up ice cream, but Axel assured me that Twilight Town had the absolute best. At this point, though, I would've settled for anything - the sweltering heat was only making my exhaustion from the fight with Trickmaster even worse.

Then, my day got infinitely worse. Because here comes Sora.

I don't know how I knew immediately; after all, this was Sora's avatar, not his real body. Much like mine, his hair was a lot spikier in Kingdom Hearts than in reality. But his face and his eyes were almost exact replicas of Sora's real body.

My brother and I locked eyes from across the Bazaar. I glanced to the boy Sora was with, a surly looking guy with silver hair. He and Sora quietly exchanged words, and they started walking directly towards me and Axel.

I looked around, trying to see if there's any way to avoid this conversation. It felt weird to talk to Sora again, least of all inside the game, surrounded by Axel, this silver haired guy, as well as any other players in the area.

"Oh, shit," Axel sighed. He'd noticed the pair walking directly towards us.

Sora and the stranger planted their feet in front of Axel and I.

"Sora, pleasure to see you again," Axel said sarcastically. It was obvious there was a rivalry between the two.

Sora seemed totally different in here. He had this...strength about him. His gear was leagues above anything I had seen in the game, even better than Axel's.

"Hey, Axel," Sora greeted shortly. His eyes snapped over to me. "Roxas."

"Hey, Sora," I greeted awkwardly. Axel's eyes darted between me and Sora, confused by whatever energy was bouncing between us.

"Wait, Roxas, do you know him?" Axel asked.

Sora laughed a little. "Wait, you didn't tell him? Roxas, come on."

"Tell me what?" Axel asked. Axel stepped between us, turning his back to Sora to face me head on. "Roxas, buddy, what's going on?"

That weirded me out a little. Axel had never referred to us as "buddies", and it seemed weirdly patronizing, but that was probably just his discomfort with this whole situation talking.

I took a deep breath. "Sora is my brother. In the real world, I mean."

Axel's face fell. "No...you're serious, aren't you?" Axel asked. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't know it was a big deal when I joined," I said truthfully. "But then...I don't know. I was worried Xemnas would kick me out or something."

Axel sighed and turned his back, glancing back to Sora. "You two get in a fight or something?"

Sora nodded. Axel put his hands up defensively and stepped back. "I'm not getting in the way of a family feud, here. God, this is weird."

"No kidding," Sora and I said simultaneously. We locked eyes again for a moment, and my eyes locked on the ground.

"Right," Axel said awkwardly. "Did you know about this, Riku?"

"I did not," said the silver haired boy. Riku appeared to be a guildmate of Sora's, which meant he must be a Keyblade wielder as well. "Sora, we need to get going. Aqua and Ven are waiting for us."

"Right, sorry," Sora said, scratching the back of his head. "Roxas. See you at dinner?"

I nodded, and the two headed on their way, leaving Axel and I alone.

Axel started walking again in the same direction we were headed before, towards Twilight Town. I didn't follow at first, but jogged to catch up to him. "Axel, I'm sorry."

"It's whatever, man," Axel said. "Look, I'll say this. Secrets don't go over well in Guilds, especially Organization 13. You're gonna have to tell everyone eventually."

"I know," I said. "I just...I'm worried they'll kick me out because of it."

"Unlikely," Axel denied. "If anything, it's more likely that Xemnas will want to keep you around in hopes of you having insider information.". 

I thought about that for a second. Before I could respond, though, Axel spoke up again. "Then again, he may also play it safe and assume you might be spying for your brother. That's more likely, honestly."

"I'm not spying on anyone, Axel," I defended.

"How are they supposed to know that? How am I?" Axel asked. "Look, Roxas, you and I don't know each other _that_ well, and you don't owe me shit. But from now on, no more secrets, alright?"

Guilt washed over me like a tidal wave of sewage, and I nodded sadly. Axel's fist clenched tightly, shaking a little, and then it relaxed. "And you're buying ice cream today. Deal?"

That made me smile a little. "Deal."

We made our way into Twilight Town and I picked up the ice cream. Axel taught me how to offer a trade to another player so that I could give Axel his, and we headed to the top of the clocktower together.

Things had already lightened up a bit. Axel joked around and nudged my shoulder with his own, and we talked and chatted.

"So is Sora why you started playing Kingdom Hearts?" Axel asked.

"Sort of," I admitted. "I've never really been much of a gamer. But Sora's been playing this game for so long now, and hearing him talk about it all the time and how much he loved it. I decided to give it a shot."

Axel nodded and took another bite out of his ice cream (you know, like a fucking animal). "Which one of you is older?"

"Sora, by about six minutes," he joked.

"Twins? You guys are twins?" Axel asked, and I nodded. "Identical?"

"Yep," I confirmed. "The only real difference is that my hair is a little bit lighter than his."

Axel kept going at his ice cream, thinking on that for a few moments. I finished mine off off and stared at the wooden stick at the center, then flicked it away, watching the shards as the item disappeared from the game.

"Not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but you two don't seem alike at all," Axel said.

"Yeah, you're not wrong," I agreed. "He's always been so...out there? Charismatic, I mean. People always seem to like him."

"And not you?" Axel probed.

I squirmed a little, the deeply personal topic a little uncomfortable. "Isn't it, like, bad manners or something to talk about real-world stuff in the game? I've heard people say that."

Axel deadpanned. "What about my personality gives you the impression that I give a shit? Come on, Roxas."

Yeah, that was fair enough. "Well...no, not really me. I've always been quiet. Sora is literally the exact opposite."

"Didn't seem that way today," Axel pointed out.

"That's because he's mad at me," I said.

I told Axel the whole story - the argument with Sora, how I'd been avoiding Sora ever since. Today was the first time we'd spoken since the argument, and it was still weird that it was in the game and not the real world.

"Damn," Axel said, taking in my story. I stared down at the city, a breeze knocking my feet together as they dangled off the side of the clocktower.

"Sorry, didn't mean to go on like that," I apologized, a little embarrassed by the outpouring. I hadn't talked to anyone about this, even my friends at school. Hayner, Pence, and Olette were great, but it felt weird telling them that we got in a fight because of Kingdom Hearts, when I had outwardly expressed how annoying Sora could be when it came to the game.

"It's okay."

We sat in silence for a moment, taking in the neverending sunset. "Are you going to tell the others about my brother?" I asked.

"I don't know yet," Axel admitted. That surprised me; wasn't he the one that just said secrets don't help the guild? "Let's keep this between us for now until we decide how to tell them. Alright?"

I nodded. For now, this stayed between us.


	8. The Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops! I'm really bad about remembering to upload the next chapter on Thursdays lmao. A day late, here you go!

Until it happened, I never realized how important it was reaching Level 20.

Kingdom Hearts had a faction system that wasn't really apparent in the early levels, but Level 20 was when things started to get interesting. Once you reached that level, players automatically received a quest called " _Choosing Your Side_ ".

"Great, you finally got it," Axel said, congratulating me on the level-up. "This quest is what lets you start using dark magic, like the corridors we use to teleport between worlds. Everyone in Organization 13 sides with the darkness in this."

"None of them sided with Light?" I asked, and Axel shook his head.

"I think it was Xemnas' call. A way to oppose the Warriors of Light, keeps it thematic. You know how he is," Axel explained.

And I certainly did. Over the past couple of weeks, not only had Axel and I grown closer, but I had been getting to know the other members of the guild. Xemnas was still a mystery, as was Saix, but Demyx and Xigbar were really growing on me..

"Alright, let's do that quest tomorrow. Daddy needs to eat," Axel said.

"Please tell me you did _not_ just refer to yourself as 'Daddy'," I cringed.

Axel just shrugged, still sporting that stupid smirk I had long since grown accustomed to. "Gotta run. Catch you later, Roxy."

Before I could protest the nickname, Axel pressed a button on his menu and logged out. Now that we were in the safe zone of Twilight Town, I decided to log out, too.

I blinked, the light in the window obscured by the visor of his VR helmet. I removed my helmet and ran fingers through my flat, matted hair. The sun was going down, and I knew that it must be time for dinner.

My parents were out of town, so that just left me and Sora alone in the house. Sora was probably still in the game, so it was probably safe for me to go eat.

Things had been weird ever since Sora found out, and our impromptu meeting in Agrabah hadn't helped. We hadn't talked it out at all. It was such a stupid thing to fight over; I knew that, and Sora probably did as well.

Sora wasn't mad that I was playing Kingdom Hearts, or even that I had kept it a secret. Sora was mad because I wouldn't do everything Sora wanted me to, including joining the Warriors of Light. And of course, I was mad because Sora was being selfish and just assuming that I would drop everything to join him.

I didn't have a lot to back this up with at the time, but I did now; my guildmates were my friends, especially Axel. Leaving them would destroy that, but Sora would always be my brother.

Sora and I had been inseparable growing up. As twins, we did everything together; rode bikes, played sports (which I was terrible at), and our favorite, played video games together. We lived and breathed split-screen co-op games when we were kids.

Around the time we turned 12, those kinds of games weren't really coming out anymore. I sort of grew out of video games, instead spending more time reading and hanging out with Hayner, Pence, and Olette.

Sora had never been that way. Sure, he had all kinds of friends at school; Sora was popular, charismatic, and people always liked being around him. But Sora still kept playing games. World of Warcraft was his fixation for quite a while, but once VR gaming went mainstream, Kingdom Hearts became his entire world.

I didn't like thinking about this kind of stuff. It was sort of depressing, the way Sora and I had grown apart. It wasn't like there was any animosity between us (at least, not before our recent argument), but we weren't close like when we were kids. It kind of sucked, but that didn't mean I could abandon my friends.

I stepped into the kitchen, wondering what we had in the pantry, but stopped dead in my tracks. Sora was there, not logged in after all, biting into a sandwich he'd made for himself. It was an absolute monstrosity, exactly the type of thing I would expect of my brother. So much meat and cheese on it that Sora could barely fit it in his mouth.

I didn't say anything. Instead I just awkwardly stepped past Sora and opened the fridge, looking in to see if there's anything to eat.

Honestly I expected Sora to leave, avoiding the awkward silence between us, but instead Sora planted his feet and leaned on the counter. I heard his chewing from several feet away, and rolled my eyes as I kept looking through the fridge.

"Roxas," Sora said, breaking the silence in the room.

"Hmm," I answered. I wasn't finding anything in the fridge, so I closed that and opened the other side to check if there was anything frozen to eat.

"We've got to talk eventually," Sora said. I was surprised that Sora was (in this particular moment, not overall) being the "mature" one. I knew that was the case, because _obviously_ we needed to talk, but I'd been waiting for Sora to apologize.

I closed the freezer. This was more important for now, and Sora at the very least deserved my attention. I didn't say anything, just leaned back against the island in the center of the kitchen and waited for Sora to begin.

"When I found out that you were playing Kingdom Hearts, I got really excited," Sora admitted. "I mean, it's been years since we've played video games together. And when I saw you lying there in your helmet, I couldn't help but think about what it would be like for you and me to go around fighting the Heartless together. Then you told me that you joined Organization 13, and I just...I was disappointed."

"They're not bad people, Sora," I told him.

"I know that, I guess. It's just..." Sora sighed. "Without trying to sound egotistical, I'm sort of a big deal in Kingdom Hearts. People notice when I join a party with someone who's not in my guild. I still get messages anytime I hang out with Donald and Goofy."

I didn't know any Donald or Goofy, but Sora had mentioned them in the past. Probably other players he hung out with, and they must not have been in the guild.

"Dude, I really don't care about any of that," I said. Sora seemed surprised. "The reason I was mad was because you just...assumed that I'd drop my friends to join you. We can still play together, obviously, but I don't want to just follow in your footsteps exactly. Axel and the others...they're my friends now."

Sora sighed. "I know, I know. And I guess I'm going to have to live with that." Sora paused, thinking for a moment. "What level are you now?"

"I hit Level 20 just a little while ago," I told him. Sora perked up at that.

"So you haven't chosen your alignment yet?" he asked. I shook my head. He had this excited twinkle in his eye. "Okay. Alright, then you're going to give me one last shot."

"I am?" I asked. Sora nodded, somehow completely forgetting what I'd just said about my guild.

"You are," Sora grinned. "Listen, you've been hanging out with Organization 13, and you've only ever seen the dark magic. Let me show you how the light side is."

I should have known - Sora was relentless if nothing else. But if this would get Sora off my back, the least I could do was give him a fair shot.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked. Sora's grin only widened.

"There's a quest in Traverse Town that we just found that gets you a new Keyblade. Me and Riku were going to do it tonight, anyway. Party up with me, and just see what it's like to play with the Light side," he offered. I tossed the idea around; regardless of whether or not I would agree with Sora, at the very least I might get a new Keyblade out of it.

"Alright, I'm game," I agreed. "Let me get something to eat and we'll get going."

Sora cheered, throwing his arms around my shoulders with glee. He pulled away and shoved his hand deep into his pocket, pulling out his phone. He sent out a text, and then grabbed his sandwich. "I'll meet you in Traverse Town, okay?"

I agreed, and Sora ran back up to his room. Sora probably needed to meet up with Riku and explain the new situation. I heated up a frozen dinner, scarfed it down as quickly as I could, and headed back up to my room.

As quickly as I could, I logged back into Kingdom Hearts. I was still in Twilight Town, so I quickly passed from world to world and made my way to Traverse Town, dodging Heartless along the way to speed up the process.

I hadn't spent much time in Traverse Town lately. Once we'd cleared out all of those beginner quests, Axel and I moved onto other worlds to do quests and fight stronger Heartless. Now I had better gear, a stronger Keyblade, and enough knowledge about the game that I could potentially help a newbie out if needed.

But not today. I saw a flash of spiky brown hair in the corner of my vision, and when I turned to focus, saw Sora and Riku standing and chatting.

I jogged over to them. I'd never spoken to Riku, but he seemed...intense. "Hey, Sora."

"Ready to go?" Sora asked, grinning. He seemed totally different than when I saw him in Agrabah, all serious and upset. Riku was basically the same.

"Yeah, let's do it."

Sora and Riku lead the way, and Sora told me that the start of the quest in the sewers of the Second District. I remembered Axel saying that there was a way to get to Merlin's House through the sewers, but I hadn't explored them yet.

Nostalgia struck upon stepping into the Second District. As a few Heartless spawned, I drew my Keyblade and swiped them away when they lunged. What had once seemed to be a huge threat now were minor nuisances, and most died with one swipe of the Keyblade.

"You have Lady Luck?" Sora asked. "I didn't think you'd found another Keyblade yet."

"I'm not _totally_ helpless, Sora," I retorted. Riku seemed to like that, smirking a little as we kept walking.

We found ourselves in the back alley, and Sora and Riku jumped down into the shallow water leading to the sewer. Thankfully the water looked clean; whenever I heard 'sewer', I immediately got the image of wading through waist-high shit, but this wasn't really the kind of game that would make you do that.

In fact, the sewers were remarkably clean, further clarifying that this was a fantasy game. A few Heartless spawned in the way but were no match for me, much less the higher levels of Sora and Riku.

I noticed that Sora's gear was significantly better than Riku's, but Riku somehow seemed like a better fighter. 

"Riku, what level are you?" I asked.

"Don't you know it's impolite to ask that?" Riku teased, raising an eyebrow back at me. I scrambled for an answer, or an apology, but Riku just smirked and answered anyway. "I'm level 48."

That surprised me. I expected him to be higher, especially being Sora's partner in Warriors of Light. "Riku used to have a way stronger account, but it got hacked."

"I used to fight on the dark side, too," Riku said. I cringed - I guess Sora really had caught him up on _everything_. "But on my new account, I had a Keyblade. I decided to make the most of it, and join the light side."

It all seemed like a bunch of nonsense. Honestly, what difference did it really make? It was just a video game, after all, and it should affect who you are as a person. It all seemed silly.

We kept walking, and soon the narrow tunnel opened up into a round room. The walls were stone, but the whole room was filled with a soft, green-ish light. Straight ahead was a set of stone stairs that probably led up into Merlin's study. Down to the left was another hallway-like cavern, and when we turned to face down that way, there was nothing but a mural at the very end.

It was simple, and could even be mistaken for a child's drawing. It depicted a night sky and several stars.

Riku and Sora's heads spun on a swivel, looking around to make sure the three of us were alone. Sora opened his menu and typed something in, and sent the invite for me to join their party. I accepted, and when they were sure we were alone, the three of us approached the mural.

Sora drew his Keyblade. It was similar to the Kingdom Key, but it seemed...stronger somehow? I wasn't sure why. Perhaps there was a quest somewhere that gave you a stronger version of the classic Kingdom Key.

He pointed the end of the Keyblade up at the mural and on cue, a keyhole made of light appeared on the stone wall. A beam of light shot from the end of his weapon and into the keyhole. Light flooded the tunnel, blinding me momentarily. When the light cleared, the stone wall had completely vanished.

"A secret room?" I asked, eyes wide. Sora gestured for me to follow, and our party quickly moved into the new room. As soon as I crossed the boundary, the wall appeared behind us, obscuring the room again.

"This room can only be accessed by someone with the Keyblade," Riku explained. I received a notification of a newly received quest. Riku and Sora must have already gotten this quest earlier, but I checked it. It was titled " _Station of Serenity_ ", with the first objective being merely to explore this secret room.

It honestly didn't look like much. It had wooden walls and was perfectly square, completely devoid of furniture. "Is this a boss room?" I asked suspiciously.

"Too small. And the ceiling isn't high enough," Riku said. We all started looking around, checking to find a way out of the room. Now that the wall had solidified behind us, there were no longer any ways to exit the room. I wondered how Sora and Riku got out of here last time, but I guess it didn't really matter.

We all started checking the walls, looking for secret switches or keyholes. For a moment I remembered the scene from Star Wars in the trash compactor, and wondered if we hit the wrong thing if they would start closing in on each other.

I stumbled as something caught my foot - a spot of the floor that was lower than the others. I lifted my foot to look, and realized that the floor came up with it. A pressure plate? I put pressure back down, and noticed a spot in the wall in front of me opened. Just the outline of a keyhole, one that would hardly be visible if I weren't looking for it.

Lady Luck jumped to my hand without even summoning it. I pointed it directly at the keyhole, and light immediately fired from the end of the weapon and into the center of the keyhole.

The walls around us vanished into nothingness, replaced by a black void. For a moment I thought we were teleporting, but we all stayed put.

The floor beneath us changed. Rather than the plain wooden floor, now it was a platform made of stained glass. It depicted a woman I didn't recognize, but she was elegantly dressed and wore a small crown. A princess?

"It's Aurora, one of the Princesses of Heart," Sora said. I remembered hearing about the Princesses of Heart while learning about the lore of Kingdom Hearts, but not the specifics.

We all looked around. The platform we stood on wasn't the only one - about fifty yards away stood another, taller platform, complete with intricate stained glass detailing all up and down the side. It was the only other noticeable landmark in the dark void we found ourselves in.

Sora opened his menu, and Riku and I moved behind him to glance at it. "There's no map data of this. I think we're the first ones to ever travel here."

"Where even _is_ here?" I asked.

"Not any world I've seen," Riku noted. "Maybe it's not a world, but just a special area for this quest? Like an empty space between worlds or something."

"I don't know, but it gives me the creeps," I admitted, clutching Lady Luck a little tighter. "Let's keep moving."

Riku and Sora agreed. We kept moving, closer to the edge of the circle nearest the next platform. "How do you think we get from here to there?" I asked.

On cue, the edge of my vision changed. The color shifted to red, informing me that I was in combat. I turned around to face the center of the platform, and three enemies appeared. They were stationary, just writhing in place.

"Dusks?" Sora asked, scratching his head. "There aren't any Nobodies in Traverse Town."

"Didn't we just establish we aren't in Traverse Town anymore?" Riku teased him. They drew their Keyblades, and I gripped mine tighter.

I flashed back to that time in The World That Never Was when Demyx had to save me from that group of Dusks. I wondered what level those were compared to these Dusks, or if I would be able to handle this fight.

In the end it didn't matter - I'd fight my hardest, and with Sora and Riku backing me up, we'd be fine.

Still feeling bitter about my last encounter with Nobodies, I charged the Dusks, swinging my Keyblade high and bringing it down on one of their heads. It actually did okay damage - either these were a much lower level than the ones from before, or all this leveling up was really paying off.

The battle was short. With Riku and Sora in tow, I only managed take out one Dusk before the battle was over. My experience was tallied, and I noticed that Nobodies seemed to give more than Heartless.

"Look at that," Sora said, pointing towards the other platform. I turned to face it just in time to see shards of stained glass appear one by one, creating a path from this platform to the next. There wasn't much distance between them, but it didn't exactly look like a sturdy staircase.

Riku wasn't afraid and started making his way up the glass pathway. They didn't move when he walked, and they seemed stable enough, so Sora and I followed after. The next platform was much the same. This one depicted a different princess, this one apparently by the name of Cinderella. More Nobodies appeared, all the same level but in larger numbers, and the three of us made short work of those, too.

This went on for some time, platform after platform, each depicting another princess. After the seventh battle, Riku grunted in frustration.

"Come on! How long is this going to go on for?" he complained. "I figured after the seventh princess we'd be done with this."

I thought the same to be honest. After the seven princesses, what else could there be? But there was still another platform, and as far as we knew, maybe even more past that.

"I'm not sure how many more of these I've got in me," I admitted. My HP was running low and I was nearly out of potions, plus it would be a couple more minutes before my MP finished recharging.

"Come on, guys, I think we're almost done," Sora said optimistically.

"You said that three princesses ago," Riku mocked. "Come on, let's keep going."

On the bright side, all this experience had helped me level up again, but I was still beat. I used my last potion to heal while I waited for my MP to replenish.

The next platform was different. Where as the other seven were brighter in tone depicting princesses, this one was...dark. A deep red tone, depicting images of broken and rusted Keyblades all around the perimeter. At the center were two warriors, clad in intricate armor, each wielding Keyblades. One was in brighter colors, the other dark, and the two were charging at each other, fighting.

"What the hell is this?" I asked.

"I have no idea," Sora said. Riku also shrugged.

There was something about it that was deeply unsettling, all the damaged weapons and the warriors. It was such a drastic change from the other platforms that were all so...innocent? But this felt wrong.

"They're using two Keyblades each," Riku pointed out. I hadn't noticed, but he was absolutely right - each warrior had a Keyblade in each hand.

"Sora, can't you do that?" I asked. Sora nodded. "And isn't that your unique skill?" Sora nodded again.

"As far as I know. Nobody else has ever been seen using two Keyblades at once," said Riku. Sora walked up and stood where the lightly-clad warrior was. 

"Does that mean this one...is me?" he asked.

"How could a game construct depict a player? It doesn't make any sense," I pointed out skeptically.

"Let's say for now that it is you," Riku said. He gestured to the other warrior with his Keyblade. "Then who is that?"

"Do you think there's somebody else who can use two Keyblades? Somebody sided with the darkness?" Sora asked. His eyes flickered towards me for only a moment, and then back to Riku. I noticed his glance.

"Hey, don't look at me. I can't use two Keyblades, and I haven't sided-"

The ground shook violently, knocking me off balance and staggering down to one knee. Part of me expected the stained glass beneath us to break, but it stayed strong even as a huge, hulking white figure pulled itself onto the platform.

"What in the absolute hell is that?" Sora asked loudly, drawing his Keyblade yet again.

Riku winced and drew his own Keyblade. "Nothing good."

The creature didn't appear to have a face, only a flat, white surface displaying the Nobody symbol. The only color on the beast seemed to be some sort of scarf that was pale blue. Its body looked like a suit of armor, with huge spiked shoulders and pointed feet.

A health bar appeared at the top of my vision, along with the name " _Twilight Thorn_ ".

I gulped. "So, wild guess, I'm thinking this is the boss fight."


	9. The Battle

The fight was absolutely brutal, and all I could think of was how pissed Axel would be that he missed this fight.

If I was thankful for one thing, it's (ironically) that Sora and Riku were sided with the Light. The Light side apparently had stronger healing magic, and Twilight Thorn killed me three times before the fight was done.

Sora may have been a higher level, but Riku fought like a demon; sliding under Twilight Thorn's legs, slashing at what would have been a person's Achilles tendon. But Twilight Thorn's weak spot was its head, and that's where Sora focused his attack.

I got to see that unique skill in action during the fight. While I blocked an attack from Twilight Thorn's weird scarf thing, a huge flash of red light caught my attention.

Then Sora sped past me, faster than I'd ever seen something move in this game. Sora's clothes had changed color scheme to be all red, and he had two Keyblades - an image remarkably similar to the stain glass platform we were fighting on.

He jumped up way into the air, and I suspected that if Sora gave it his all he could've cleared the monster in one jump like an Olympic athlete. But instead Sora brought both Keyblades down on its head hard, starting a long and powerful combo against Twilight Thorn. By the time Sora was done, he'd taken out a quarter of the Nobody's health bar. Another smaller flash of light, and Sora's clothes went back to what they were before, and his second Keyblade disappeared. I gathered it only worked for a short amount of time.

Despite being the weakest in the party, somehow I got lucky and managed to get the last hit on Twilight Thorn. I was proud of a pretty clever maneuver to get up to the beast's head - when one of its scarf tendrils launched out, I used Lady Luck to stab it against the ground, pulling the scarf tight and creating a surface for me to run up. As I got close to its head, I jumped into the air and summoned the Keyblade back to my hand, bringing it hard down hard against its head.

Rather than bouncing off like before, my Keyblade tore through it, all but tearing it in half as I drug it down the length of its body before slamming into the ground oh so gracefully. It twitched a couple of times before shattering, defeated.

I got so many experience points that I jumped all the way from Level 21 to Level 23. I clicked on the notification for my experience points, as well as loot gained from the fight.

"No Keyblade," Sora commented, looking through his own menu. He glanced over to Riku. "Anything?" Riku shook his head.

I stared at my menu, because I _did_ get a new Keyblade. It was unlike any Keyblade I'd ever seen - it was white with a detailed and intricate handle. At the end of the weapon was a sort of star, blue at the center and fading out to yellow.

It was titled Oathkeeper. As I closed my menu, I looked down at what I already knew - my new Keyblade matched perfectly with the one in the dark warrior's left hand.

"Roxas, did you get one?" Sora asked.

"No," I lied instinctively. We all stood around for a moment, taking in the view of the platform beneath our shoes. After a few seconds, a doorway appeared in the center of the platform, right in the space between the clashing warriors.

"Let's get going," Riku said. Sora approached it and pulled the door open, and light poured into the Station of Serenity. I shielded my eyes as the party was pulled through the door.

When the spots cleared from my vision, we were standing in Twilight Town. I tried processing that for a moment - we definitely started in Traverse Town, right? I hadn't been to this particular part of the town, but the color scheme was instantly recognizable.

"Twilight Town? There's no pathway between Twilight Town and Traverse Town, is there?" Sora asked.

"I think there is now," I added. "Maybe we...unlocked it?"

"I think Roxas is right," Riku agreed.

I looked up to the huge clocktower in the distance and immediately thought of Axel. And how much I wanted ice cream.

"Alright, I'm gonna log off for the night. I've got homework," Riku said.

"Yeah, me too," Sora sighed. "I'll talk to you later, Roxas. See ya!"

The two of them opened their menus and disappeared, logging out of the game. I pulled up my menu as well, but rather than logging out, I checked to see if Axel was online.

He was. I pulled up a chat window with Axel and asked him to meet me at the clocktower. Axel seemed a bit confused in his response, but agreed anyway.

I ran first to the ice cream stall to get snacks. My heart was racing - for some reason, I felt this urge to tell Axel all about the adventure I'd been on with Sora and Riku. The bizarre quest, the huge boss that was probably WAY too strong for me to be fighting, plus this new Keyblade. It was like when being a little kid, running home from school to tell Mom all about what I'd learned.

I also wanted to know if Axel knew anything about the strange image in the Station of Serenity, the dueling Keyblade masters. Sora was a great player and all, but he didn't seem to know nearly as much about Kingdom Hearts lore as Axel did.

Just as I approached the base of the clock tower, ice cream in hand, Axel materialized through a portal. He and I immediately locked eyes and I felt myself grinning from ear to ear. Before Axel could even question my excitement, I gestured for him to follow me up to the top of the tower.

We made haste, Axel running after me and loudly exclaiming his amusement at how I was acting, but I couldn't care less.

We were both out of breath from the pace we were moving to get up the tower. I slowly crawled through my menu to start a trade with Axel to give him his ice cream. We took our seats at the edge of the tower, looking off into the sunset.

"What's gotten into you, Roxas?" Axel asked. "I thought we only did this after battles."

"I just had a battle. An _amazing_ battle," I said. "I jumped up two levels."

"Two? Holy shit, what level was this thing?" Axel asked. I shrugged and dug through my menu - I managed to get screenshots during the battle with the monster, and flipped my menu around to show them to Axel.

"What the fuck is that?" Axel asked, zooming in on the images.

"A Nobody we found in Traverse Town called Twilight Thorn," I explained. Axel scrolled through the pictures, noticing that a few of them also caught images of Riku and Sora, and even one of Sora using his unique skill.

Axel returned to his ice cream, silently listening while I told the story. The quest, the strange world of the Station of Serenity, as well as the new pathway between Traverse Town and Twilight Town.

"So you enjoyed your trip with the Heroes of Light, huh?" Axel asked flatly, a bit of suspicion in his voice. "Should've given the ice cream to them. I haven't done shit today."

I giggled at that. "They had to go. But also...I didn't really want to. This is our thing."

Axel smiled a little at that even though he tried to hide it by looking away. "Oh, Axel! Check out what I got from the quest."

I'd nearly forgotten. I quickly scrolled through my menu and equipped Oathkeeper, and immediately summoned it. Suddenly I was dual-wielding with that in my right hand and ice cream in my left.

Axel examined Oathkeeper closely. "Where have I seen that before?" Axel asked, looking it over.

"Dunno. Apparently I'm the only one who got it from the quest," I said. "I think it was a last-hit bonus from the boss."

Axel nodded, agreeing with my suspicion. Axel scratched his chin, thinking hard about something I couldn't decipher from just his face.

"There's one other thing, too," I continued, and tried to recreate the stain glass mural as best I could with only words. The screenshots got fragments of it, but mostly obscured by that Nobody, magic, Sora and Riku, and so on. I made sure to point out that Oathkeeper was one of the two Keyblades being used on the dark side along with an all-black one I hadn't seen before, as well as that we suspected the Light side was representing Sora.

"This sounds familiar and I can't think of why," Axel sighed. "It's gonna drive me crazy."

I finally turned my attention back to my ice cream, done with the story. Axel had nearly finished his, but now he was ignoring his ice cream to stare off into the distance, thinking.

We sat in silence. I thought again about the mission, and how Axel would have really enjoyed that fight with Twilight Thorn. He didn't like to show it, but he was a total geek for the lore and quests of Kingdom Hearts. He would've eaten that up.

Not for the first time, I felt guilty about having the Keyblade. Axel had poured his heart and soul into this game, way longer than I had been playing, and yet so many opportunities were closed to him because he didn't have a Keyblade. Not that Axel still couldn't stomp me into the ground of he wanted to, but it was no secret that I had a distinct advantage over most players because I got lucky.

"I wish you could've come," I said aloud. Axel just shrugged, then leaned over to bump his shoulder into mine.

"Hey, that's the way the world is. I'm not the 'chosen one'," Axel teased. "Don't worry. We'll go on plenty of quests together just as awesome as that one. Promise."

I felt warmth gather in my cheeks, which I turned away from him to obscure. "I'll hold you to that."


	10. The Choice

The "Choosing Your Side" quest was surprisingly easy.

Maybe it's because it was supposed to be completed at Level 20, whereas I had jumped all the way up to Level 23 after the boss fight with Twilight Thorn. But these Heartless were pieces of cake, even if Axel weren't around to help.

Axel being there was a pretty obvious answer to the decision I'd made. I was going to side with the Darkness and remain a member of Organization 13. I was thankful to Sora and Riku for their help on that quest, but I wanted to stay with my friends - mostly Axel.

I hadn't found a way to tell Sora yet, so I figured it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Not that I _needed_ Sora's permission...well, whatever.

"Roxas, keep your head in the game!" Axel shouted, a clever play on words that snapped me back to (virtual) reality. I raised my weapon and protected myself against an attack from a Large Body. I jumped and spun over its head, slashing Oathkeeper through its back and destroying it, sending Munny and HP Orbs everywhere.

"You ever try to pull any of these acrobatic stunts in the real world?" I asked.

"Yeah right," Axel joked. "I couldn't even do a cartwheel with four people operating my limbs."

We progressed deeper into the heart of this world, Hollow Bastion. The Heartless here were tougher than I had encountered in the past, but with my raised level and powerful new Keyblade, they weren't providing a lot of challenge.

I pulled up the map of the area, noting that we were getting close to the quest marker. On the corner of the map I saw another marker, the one for the Light side - leading me all the way to a world called the Land of Departure.

"Having second thoughts?" Axel asked. I closed the menu quickly and looked up at Axel, who worriedly looked down at me. Axel must have seen me eyeing the quest marker for the other side.

"No," I assured him. "I just feel sort of bad. I don't think this quest is supposed to be this emotionally exhausting?"

Axel smiled a little at that. "Not really, no. But most players' social and family situation isn't so damn complicated."

I couldn't agree more. Axel gestured for me to follow, and we approached the entrance to the big castle. Axel walked a few feet in front of me, leading the way.

I stared at the back of Axel's head as we continued towards the quest marker. Recently I had been thinking more and more about Axel's real life - who was he, really? Though Axel had learned quite a bit about me in the real world, that street didn't really go both ways.

I didn't even know if Axel was his real name. From what I gathered from other players, it probably wasn't.

The hallway was devoid of Heartless but Axel seemed on edge, chakrams at the ready in case anything spawned. I quickened my pace to walk at Axel's side.

"Hey, Axel," I said. Axel peered over, raising an eyebrow at me. "What's your real name?"

Axel seemed a bit confused at that. "What do you need to know that for?" he asked, laughing a little.

I felt a little embarrassed even asking. "I don't know. I was just curious."

Axel just smiled at that. "People don't really give out their real names in the game, so keep this to yourself, alright? It's Lea."

I repeated the word under my breath. _Lea_ , I whispered. Such a normal name for someone who was so incredibly far from normal.

"What about you, Roxas?"

"Roxas actually is my real name," I grinned.

Axel just chuckled and shook his head, and faced the hallway again, looking out for enemies.

This whole friendship was so bizarre. In all this time I'd barely even interacted with the rest of Organization 13 except for the occasional chat with Demyx or Xigbar. It felt more like me and Axel were a team all our own, and the rest of the guild didn't even exist.

I had another question on the tip of my tongue - I wanted to know how old Axel was, but it seemed weird to keep prying into his personal life. Before I could ask a group of Heartless spawned and cut me off. The fight was brief - at this stage in the game, I was one and two-hitting most of the enemies except the big ones, and Axel mowed them down even faster. It didn't take long, but by the time they'd finished, I'd lost my nerve to keep probing.

"Just up here," Axel said. We reached what seemed like the center of the castle. On either side of us stood three parallel glass boxes, six in total, almost like coffins. Ahead were two sets of stairs all leading up to the same platform, and that's exactly where the quest marker lead to.

More powerful Heartless started to spawn. Defenders, these big guys with shields with fucking dog heads on them, spawned in and attacked us. I slid under their legs, something I saw Riku do against Twilight Thorn, and slashed upwards at it. A few more hits to the back and it exploded, and Axel had already made short work of the other one.

We fought our way up to the central platform, where I received a quest update. _Greet the stranger,_ it said.

I looked around, but there was nobody around to greet. No NPC's, no other players, nothing.

We took in the sights around us. The platform was circular with monitors and keyboards over towards the side of the railing overlooking the rest of the room. Opposite that was a huge symbol on the wall - the symbol of the Heartless.

Oathkeeper jumped to my hand. Axel was looking around, a confused expression plastered on his face. "What is it?" I asked.

"There's supposed to be an NPC here to finish the quest," Axel explained. I looked up at the huge emblem on the wall. I squinted, trying to make out something right in the center, and then I realized - a Keyhole.

I pointed the Keyblade at the center and light shot out, connecting with it and filling the room with light for a few brief moments.

On cue, the symbol fractured and fell to the ground in pieces. I couldn't comprehend what was behind it - just a swirling darkness, black, blue, red, and green.

A man emerged from the darkness, and for a moment I could have sworn it was Xemnas. His dark skin, bright white hair and piercing orange eyes - the similarities were shocking.

The man moved differently than other NPC's I'd seen. The movements were too...fluid, too real. Something about it was very off-putting.

"This is weird," I said. "Who is this guy?"

"Who is who?" Axel asked.

My head bounced between the man and Axel, and then back to the man.

Something prickled in the back of my mind. _Axel can't see him._

"This is weird. It's so different than when I did this quest," Axel noted. "Maybe there was an update?"

For some reason, I doubted that. The strange man gestured for me to follow, and stepped back into the darkness. I stepped forward without hesitation for reasons I didn't even understand myself - confidence, curiosity? I was't sure.

I don't know what to call the area I stepped into. It wasn't a room, it was just sort of a...space. Those swirling colors were all around now, and the only thing breaking up the huge expanse of darkness was that man, standing and facing the other way.

I turned back to face Axel, expecting him to follow, but Axel stopped at the doorway into the dark. His hand was flat against an invisible barrier - he couldn't come through. He yelled something that I couldn't hear, silenced by whatever wall separated us, and he banged on the barrier as the darkness swallowed the only source of light, and Axel vanished before my eyes.

I turned back to face the man, worry starting to creep into my mind for the first time. "Who are you?" I asked, trying to sound confident.

The man didn't answer, or even flinch. He merely spoke, his deep voice booming despite the distance between us. "Warrior of the Keyblade," he began slowly, dramatically. I wondered for a moment if Axel couldn't continue because this was now a Keyblade Quest, or if this man had somehow stopped him.

"Brandish your Keyblade, and prove to me your valor," he announced. The man turned, his orange gaze piercing through me. I felt myself flinch and drew my weapon, gripping it tight and taking up a fighting stance.

The ground (that I couldn't even see) began shaking violently, and a creature materialized. It was the largest Heartless I had ever seen, even rivaling Twilight Thorn in size. Its massive body practically glowed purple, complete with massive dangerous looking tusks and a horn.

A health bar appeared at the top of my vision along with the beast's name - Behemoth.

Somehow I immediately knew the beast's weak point - its horn. I didn't dare waste any time, or give that thing a chance to charge. I sprinted right up and used the top of one of its cloven hooves to leap onto the creature's back and start slashing away at its horn.

The battle was long and difficult - I had to heal several times before I was able to chip away at the last of the Heartless' HP. It collapsed to the ground for a moment before fading away into darkness.

I gained a ton of experience points, enough to level up yet again. My eyes shot to the far side of the room where the man was watching, and he started to clap slowly, almost sarcastically.

This guy...something about him made me squirm. His movements were too human to be an NPC, but he didn't have a cursor over his head, which meant he couldn't be a player. Was he some sort of AI?

"Excellent," he said. "You fight with the strength, the rage, that I've been searching for."

"Who are you?" I asked. He gripped his Keyblade tighter.

The man smirked and vanished in a swirl of darkness, almost like those corridors of darkness that Axel can create, but faster. Immediately the man reappeared at my side and grabbed my wrist, pulling my Keyblade away from me and tossing me aside like a ragdoll.

My shoulder hit the ground hard, and I half expected to lose some HP from the throw. I rolled back onto my feet and tried to summon Oathkeeper back to no avail.

"Relax, Roxas," the man said. "I'm not here to harm you."

"Could've fooled me," Roxas snapped back. "Who are you? You're no NPC."

The man smirked, confirming my suspicion. Conversations with NPC's weren't this fluid, their responses pre-programmed. And they certainly didn't have complex facial expressions like that.

"I am Ansem, Seeker of Darkness," he said. "And you, Roxas, are what I have been seeking."

"Does that make me the darkness?" I retorted. Ansem seemed to like that, and spun Oathkeeper around to hold it in his hand.

"It makes you special," Ansem said. He eyed Oathkeeper closely, delicately running a white gloved hand over the blade. "What you've done today has started a chain of events that cannot be undone, and yet you are unaware of the part you will play."

I mulled over his words for a moment. "Does this have anything to do with the image in the Station of Serenity? The Keyblades of light and darkness."

"In a sense, yes," Ansem said. "You are not the darkness I'm seeking, Roxas. But you are not without purpose."

Ansem gestured towards me, and a menu appeared in front of me.

 _Are you sure you want to align yourself with the Darkness? Once you've made your decision, there's no going back!_ it warned.

A check mark and an x appeared, and I hesitated to approve my decision. Ansem must have noticed my hesitation, and approached me with Oathkeeper in hand.

"The Darkness cannot be forced upon you. To dive deeper, one must agree to jump off the ledge," Ansem said. He swung Oathkeeper around, offering me the handle.

Images flashed through my mind, and couldn't help but feel like they were more than memories, but images that Ansem was showing me. I saw my Guild - Demyx, Xigbar, Zexion, and of course, Axel. Axel showed up most of all - images of us fighting together, eating ice cream together, laughing and walking and talking.

When the visions stopped, my hand moved without a second thought in my mind, and I pressed the check mark. The quest updated, showing that it was completed, and I gained a new "Dark Magic" skill in my menu.

"We'll be in touch." Ansem handed Oathkeeper back to me, then flicked his hand. The wind flew out of my lungs as I shot backwards, out through an opening in the darkness and directly into Axel.

Axel and I crashed backwards onto the floor, I tumbled off the top of Axel with the added momentum of Ansem flinging me out like that, and with a smack into the base of the monitors opposite the portal, I lost a few HP.

"What the hell happened in there?" Axel groaned, still lying on the ground and rubbing his forehead that had only just connected with my elbow.

I had no idea how to answer that. Ansem wasn't an NPC, I had no doubts in my mind - but he wasn't a player, either. Whatever was going on with Ansem, it left a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"I fought a Heartless, and talked to...something," I said. "And I made my decision."

We both struggled back onto our feet, dusting ourselves off. I pushed down that nervous feeling in my stomach, trying my best to replace it with excitement. Axel smiled, and it got a little easier.

A message appeared from Demyx at the same time Axel received a message. We both opened our menus.

 _Hey Rox did you hear?_ Demyx wrote. I eyed the message curiously. "Who's that from?" I asked Axel.

"Xemnas. He wants us to come back to the castle at once. Guild Meeting," he said. Axel gestured to his side and opened a portal. "Let's go."


	11. The Announcement

A convention. A goddamn convention.

At the exact moment I opened the Keyhole in Hollow Bastion, a huge announcement appeared over the entire world. Any players in-game were notified immediately, as well as a huge social media campaign kicking off at the same exact moment.

KHCon, and it was only two months away. It was super last minute to be announcing a convention, but I could hardly be excited through the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Ansem's words rang through my mind - " _What you've done today has started a chain of events that cannot be undone, and yet you are unaware of the part you will play._ "

Could it really be a coincidence?

It was all over the news. Kingdom Hearts had been a sensation in VR gaming for quite some time now, but never had a convention been publicly discussed by the creators. Hotels in the surrounding area were booked full within hours, and Xemnas bought a suite for the whole guild.

"Wait, what?" I exclaimed when Xemnas announced it. "The convention is halfway across the country, I can't just drop everything and go. I've got school!"

Xemnas paused. "I understand your frustrations, your concerns. But this is an opportunity we can't pass up - we are the second most powerful Guild in Kingdom Hearts. The Warriors of Light will all be in attendance - we can't show weakness now."

"Sora won't be," I objected. I realized too late that I'd tipped my hand too far.

"How would you know that?" Larxene asked. Axel and I exchanged nervous glances.

Fuck, I shouldn't have said that. We hadn't discussed it in a while, but I was still under the impression that my relation to Sora should be kept secret. Marluxia seemed to notice the look between me and Axel, and spoke up on it. "What? What aren't you guys telling us?"

Axel nodded to me, and I took a breath. "I know because...Sora is my brother. In the real world."

An awkward silence fell over the room. Axel was the first to break it. "We didn't want to say anything while Roxas was still new - think he was a spy, or something."

"How do we know he isn't?" Larxene piped up. "He knows all of our weapon stats, EXP grinding spots, meetup locations. How do we know he hasn't told it all to Sora?"

"Because I've spent weeks playing with you guys, I sided with the Darkness literally ten minutes ago, and Sora has been begging me to join the Warriors of Light and I told him no," Roxas said. "I'm here to stay."

The room stayed quiet for what felt like a long time. "I believe him," Demyx said. The whole room turned to face him. "Come on, guys, it's Roxas. So what if his brother is Sora? He's here with us."

I faced Xemnas, whose face was predictably unreadable. He held his chin with one hand, eyeing me closely. "What are the chances of two brothers living under the same roof being Keyblade masters?"

"Slim to none," Xigbar agreed. "What are you thinking, boss?"

Xemnas stood. "Roxas has done nothing to convince me that he has been dishonest. But know this - if at any point we find that you are leaking our spawn locations, weapon details, location, anything of significance to somebody outside of our Guild, we will take swift and serious action."

I nodded. Axel sighed with relief, and we exchanged a brief smile. "Roxas, I will be in touch shortly to work out travel arrangements - for you, and for your brother if necessary."

I still doubted I'd be able to go, but nodded in agreement anyway. Xemnas ended the meeting, and members went our separate ways.

"I desperately need some ice cream," Axel sighed. I nodded in agreement, and Axel opened a portal to Twilight Town.

...

"What do you think it'll be like?" Axel asked.

I looked away from my ice cream and up at Axel, who just stared off into the distance.

"What?"

"Meeting everyone. In the real world, I mean," Axel elaborated.

"I guess I haven't really thought about it," I admitted. In truth, I always just pictured everyone I'd met in Kingdom Hearts to look like their avatars. I looked pretty much like my avatar, but for all I knew, Axel could appear a total stranger.

Axel took another bite of his ice cream, and I finished mine off. It was a rare situation - Axel almost always finished his first, but Axel seemed like he had a lot on his mind.

"When I was a kid, people always thought I was weird, or that I was 'too much'. I started playing video games to get away from that, to be whoever I wanted online and to be with the other weirdos," Axel said. He held his hand out in front of him, and fire lit up in his palm. He held it up to the sky, like he was holding the sun in his own hand.

"This world gives me freedom from everything people have thought about me my entire life. If I want to, I can be someone else," Axel said. "But really, I'm more myself in this world than I am in real life."

I knew too well what he meant. After only playing for a short time, more and more it felt like this was the real world, and my time at school or at home felt like the dream. I hadn't thought about what that really meant - was it because the world in here was just more fun? More interesting? I felt closer to Axel than to any of my friends in the real world, and we'd never truly met.

But did it even matter? I could see Axel, feel Axel's presence, hear his voice. I wondered if this was what Axel's real voice sounded like. If this was what _Lea's_ voice sounded like.

"I hope I get to go," I decided. "I know it shouldn't change anything. I know that knowing you here should be as good as knowing you in the real world. But I want to meet you for real."

I felt my cheeks heat up. I knew how it sounded - so serious and personal. This wasn't about wanting to meet Demyx,or Xigbar, and certainly not Larxene. Just Axel.

"That came out weird," I joked, half laughing. Looked over and Axel wasn't looking at me, turned the opposite way and suddenly more focused on his ice cream.

We finished in relative silence, but somehow it wasn't awkward. At least not for me - I stared off into the distance and thought about this convention, and what I would say to Sora about trying to travel across the country to attend. No doubt Sora was ecstatic, but the trick would be convincing our parents.

I checked the time. I'd played late into the night, and I had to be up for school in only a few short hours.

"I need to log out and go to bed," I sighed. "Will you be on tomorrow?"

Axel nodded. "Always."

I smiled at that. "See you tomorrow." Axel smiled as well and nodded, and I logged out for the night.


	12. The Meeting

"So when does your flight leave?" Axel asked.

"4 A.M.," I replied, my voice shaking a little. Axel and I were on the clock tower again, ice cream long since finished. We'd been sitting in comfortable, anxious silence, realizing what was just on the horizon.

I couldn't believe it was happening.

Two months flew by like nothing. Somehow, Sora and I had convinced our parents to let us skip school on Friday to catch an early morning flight. We agreed to do our homework on the plane (either on the way there or on the way back). I still hadn't admitted to playing the game, instead I said I was just going because I wanted to travel and promised to keep an eye on Sora.

"It's so weird to think that tomorrow, we'll meet in the real world," I said.

These past two months had been amazing. Axel and I worked so hard, leveled me up so high, and saw so many places together. We sailed on the seas of the Caribbean, explored the Deep Jungle, and at the end of every day, we stopped here in Twilight Town. It was like I'd known him my entire life - these experiences to most people wouldn't mean anything. Back in the day, exploring in a game together was hardly such a bonding experience.

VR was different - it wasn't just our avatars, it was _us_ , living and experiencing this all together. I felt the spray of the sea, smelled the forest, felt the wind on my face and the cool on my tongue on the clock tower. Axel and I had so many adventures, and tomorrow...it all became real.

These past two months, well...I knew that my friendship was more than just a friendship. Meeting Axel was like finding a soulmate, but we weren't romantic. We just...fit.

"Everything's going to be different after this," Axel said. I nodded in agreement - whatever this convention was about, it was going to change things. Not just for me, or for Axel, but the whole Guild. No, the whole world of Kingdom Hearts - it wouldn't be the same after this.

"Well...I'll see you tomorrow," I smiled. Axel smiled warmly, excited at the prospect of it, but I could tell he was as nervous as me. I logged out for the night, removed my helmet, and fell right asleep.

...

I should be used to flying but never really got there - our family went on vacation every Summer and flew all over the place, but I've always hated it. Planes smelled weird and were cramped and I hated every time the plane shook. Sora slept through almost the entire flight, earning my envy.

All I could think about was that in just a few short hours, I'd be meeting Axel. Or, meeting _Lea_ , rather. I wanted to text Axel but he was probably driving right now (he lived a LOT closer to the convention than we did). I felt my leg bouncing the whole way, nervous.

It was enough to stir Sora, whose sleepy eyes slowly opened to look up at me. "You're shaking me," he grumbled, voice raspy with sleep.

"Sorry."

"What's up? You're usually just like this during takeoff," Sora pointed out, sitting up a little and rubbing his eyes.

What could I say to explain how I was feeling to Sora? The whole situation was enough to make me a little anxious, but mostly it was about meeting Axel. Does he even look anything like his avatar? I asked about Axel's social media in the past but he'd always kept it tight-lipped, like he was _intentionally_ keeping his personal life a secret.

I looked as close to my avatar as I could be, so I wasn't afraid for Axel to see me. Axel never let on that he might look different or similar, and I couldn't exactly just search for him specifically. There were a million Lea's out in the world, and it wasn't exactly a walk in the park to single Axel out.

"Are you nervous to meet your friends?" I asked. "Riku, and Kairi, all of them...aren't you nervous?"

"Not really.I'm just excited," Sora said so non-chalantly. "Is this about Axel?" Sora asked in a surprising moment of intuition. I went to say no, but my words caught in my throat before I could lie. Of course it was about Axel. "What's the deal with you two, anyway? Like, I'm close with the guys in my guild, but you two are...something else."

It wasn't the first time someone had said that to me. Demyx often poked fun at how close we were, and Xigbar notoriously made kissy noises whenever he saw us together. It was embarrassing, but I never made a point to snap back at them. No, that honor belonged to Axel who had the sharper tongue, always ready with the clever comebacks.

It never really seemed to bother Axel, but it was embarrassing as hell. Especially one time when it happened in front of Xemnas, and if I were able to make Dark Corridors at the time, I would've been _gone_.

Speaking of, Xemnas really went the extra mile for this trip. I don't know what Xemnas did for a real job, but he bought a penthouse suite for the whole guild to share during the convention weekend, as well as both mine and Sora's plane tickets both ways. When I asked why he was willing to pay for Sora, he chuckled and referred to it as a "shipping and handling cost".

When their flight finally landed, Sora called an Uber to take us to our hotels. Sora was staying in the adjacent hotel with some others from his Guild, so he and I parted ways to go to our rooms.

The hotel was massive. The lobby was fancy, complete with a large check-in desk. The woman working told me to just go straight to the penthouse and knock on the door, and someone inside would get me a keycard.

Part of me wished the penthouse was on the thirteenth floor, but unfortunately the hotel was 21 stories tall, which sort of ruined the opportunity. I rolled my suitcase into the large glass elevator and pressed the top button, and took the quick ride to the top floor.

As it was the penthouse, it was the only room on this floor, so I walked up and knocked on the door. I had a brief moment of panic before anyone answered, nervous I'd somehow gone to the wrong hotel and was knocking on the door of a complete stranger.

The door swung open, a semi-familiar face greeted me. I definitely had never seen this person before, but his features and sandy blond hair were oddly familiar. "Roxas?" he asked, and immediately I knew his voice.

"Demyx?" I asked back. The man grinned and nodded.

"Wow, you look...about how I expected, honestly," Demyx chuckled.

Demyx grinned. Thankfully in the real world he didn't have that ridiculous mullet, instead just hair pulled back into a short ponytail. But he still had that grin I could spot a mile away and he gestured for me to enter the penthouse.

It was incredible. My family stayed in some nice hotels, but never sprung to pay for a fancy penthouse like this. There was never any need for just the four of us, but the room was already fairly crowded. It seems I was the last to arrive.

The others were all sitting around in the main room, talking and chatting and laughing. They looked like they were just hanging out in the castle.

A lot of them were actually pretty easy to identify. Larxene was still the only girl among us, but most of them just looked like a sort of toned down version of their avatar. Zexion still had his slate blue hair but with dark roots, obvious that he dyed it. Xigbar didn't have an eyepatch in the real world, and Marluxia didn't really have pink hair.

And then...Axel.

Axel looked pretty similar to his avatar, but he didn't have those little tattoos on his face and his hair wasn't _that_ spiky (though still flaming red, it was absolutely impossible that it wasn't freshly dyed). But he was still tall and lean and...Axel. Or, rather, Lea.

Axel and I locked eyes at the same moment. I didn't even notice I was running until my backpack hit the ground and I was running across the room. It was impulsive, practically involuntary, but Axel readied himself as I ran straight into his arms and Axel wrapped me up in a tight hug.

Axel was warm, like the fire he tossed around so skillfully in the game. I squeezed my arms tight around Axel's narrow waist and buried my face into Axel's shoulder to hide my huge stupid grin. It took everything in me to force back the tears.

It was _him_ , and it was _real_.

Axel and I had only hugged a handful of times in the game. Mostly impulsive decisions after a hard boss battle - but there were somethings VR just couldn't replicate. Like when I ate Sea Salt Ice Cream for the first time - it wasn't like eating real ice cream, just like hugging Axel was so different than hugging Lea.

"Nice to meet you, too, Roxas," he chuckled.

"You, too, Lea," I said, making sure to use his real name.

"Scuse me, gents," Luxord interrupted, a few feet to my left. "We've agreed to use in-game names here for simplicity's sake."

I nodded and pulled myself away from Axel, a little embarrassed but too excited to really care. Someone cleared their throat, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

Xemnas was there, and I was shocked. He looked almost _exactly_ like his avatar, with his dark, flawless skin, his slicked back silver hair, everything. The only thing that was different was his eyes - rather than being that piercing, savage orange, they were a slightly more natural gold color.

"Now that everyone has arrived," he said, his deep and booming voice somehow even more intimidating in the real world. "I'd like to welcome Organization 13."

The room erupted into hoots and hollers, everyone cheering and laughing. Xemnas gestured for everyone to settle down. "We've got a lot to accomplish this weekend, so let's get started."

Xemnas grabbed a TV remote from the coffee table and gestured to the large wall-mounted TV behind him, clicking a button to turn it on. This guy had a _presentation prepared_ , which honestly was the least surprising thing that had happened today.

Xemnas broke down the basic structure of the convention and showed a map of the convention center. He said that we would all be speaking at a panel we were invited to at 3:00 on Saturday, and that there was a large announcement being made at 7:00 that same night. We would all enter the convention together in a group, but from there it was pretty much free roam, do whatever you want.

When the meeting was over, Xemnas said to put our things away and be ready to head down to the convention center. I went back over to grab his quickly-discarded things, and Axel showed us to our room.

We didn't have the room all to ourselves - we'd be sharing it with Demyx and Zexion, and they were sharing a bed as well. This may have been a huge luxury suite, but it was still thirteen people shoved into one hotel room.

"I've got a surprise for you," Axel said as I dropped my backpack onto our bed. I yawned loudly, having been awake for so long, and looked up at Axel. Axel turned on the light to the room and gestured over to a desk tucked away on the corner, and opened a laptop. I didn't know what was going on, but he walked over there anyway.

"Check this out," Axel said. He opened a bookmark from his browser that brought him to a Reddit I had never seen before.

When the game first started growing in popularity there was a Reddit created to gather information about the lore, secret quests that were off the beaten path, stuff like that. It was used by a lot of the earlier players to get a head start.

Apparently a couple days after the Reddit was opened, a user kept adding pictures of his sketches along with cryptic messages about the game, mostly revolving around the Keyblade, the central image and symbol of the game.

Most of it just came off as weird, elaborate fanfiction. Stories of this war that happened, lore surrounding the Keyblade that I hadn't seen reflected anywhere in the game but sounded plausible enough. 

As for the sketches - they looked like custom designs of Keyblades, but few knew whether they were in the game or not. I knew, though, because one of the first images that user uploaded was of Oathkeeper.

"How is that possible?" I asked.

"My best guess is that he was involved in the production of the game," Axel said. "As far as we know, you're the only person to ever get Oathkeeper, yet somehow this guy knew about it forever ago. It's the only explanation I can think of. When I first saw your Keyblade I _knew_ I'd seen it before, and this is where."

I took the mouse from Axel's hand and enlarged the image, noting a signature on the bottom right corner of the sketch that was posted. It was signed with only three letters.

"DiZ?" I asked. "Who's that?"

"Nobody knows. I tried adding him to my friend's list, but there's no player with that username," Axel pointed out. "He used to be all over Reddit when the game came out, but most people just wrote him off as a troll and I'd forgotten about it. He posted all these sketches, long paragraphs about this 'keyblade war' and all sorts of stuff that's not even in the game."

"As far as we know," I clarified, and Axel nodded. Someone shouted from the front door, announcing that the guild was heading out, and Axel closed his laptop. Axel and I exchanged a quick, curious glance, and headed that way.

"Hey, Roxas," Axel began. "How much you wanna bet that DiZ is somewhere down at this convention?"


	13. The Convention

After a full day at the convention, we hadn't had any luck finding this DiZ person. We didn't exactly have a lot to go off of, so eventually we just gave up and enjoyed the con.

Axel seemed to enjoy it way more than I did, particularly the vendor room. There were perler bead crafts of popular NPC's, artwork, plush toys, all kinds of stuff. People walked around in cosplays of their characters, and it was awesome being in a place with so many people with a common interest.

By the end of the day, Axel had spent WAY too much money and we were both exhausted. I wanted nothing more than to take my shoes off and sleep for a year. I was running on low sleep as is, having woken up early to catch my flight.

When Axel and I eventually returned to our room, only a few others in the Guild had returned, and everyone looked to be in a similar state as us. Everyone was exhausted, lounging lazily on the couch and some even napping. Xigbar was sprawled out on his back with one leg thrown over the back of the couch, mouth wide open and snoring loudly like an idiot.

Each of the individual rooms had their own bathroom, so only me, Axel, Demyx, and Zexion had to share one. "Mind if I grab the first shower?" Axel asked, and I agreed wordlessly and flopped down onto the soft bed.

Axel rummaged through his suitcase for a few moments and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. I dug my phone out of my pocket - it died a couple of hours before, so I pulled my charger out of my backpack and plugged it in.

I was drifting off until my phone vibrated, stirring as it turned back on. I had roughly a million text messages, almost all of which were from Sora (predictably).

 _Yo is that guy you're with Axel?_ he asked. There were a couple other texts, mostly things like _I just saw you by the arcade_ , and the rest were just Sora sending "hello?" over and over and over again. I didn't have the energy to get into a conversation with Sora, so instead I just replied _Yes, that was Axel_ and locked the phone again.

I knew I shouldn't go to sleep - if I went to sleep, I was going to smell like shit and share a bed with Axel the whole night. I pulled myself up sleepily, and went and opened my suitcase to pull out another set of clothes and my laptop.

Deciding to keep researching our current mystery, I got on Reddit and kept looking for more of DiZ's posts. A few minutes later Demyx walked into our room, already in the process of taking his shirt off. The exceptionally comfortable man flopped unceremoniously down onto the bed, sighing deeply.

"Axel in the shower?" he asked, and I nodded. Demyx lifted his head to glance through the doorway, one eyebrow raised high, and then rolled onto his side to face me. "So what's up with you and Axel?"

I sighed. I knew what this was about. "If you're gonna make jokes about me and Axel, can you at least keep them inside the game? It's weird."

"It's only weird if you _make_ it weird, Roxas!" Demyx defended. "Come on, I'm serious! Are you two...you know!"

My face was already heating up. I shut my laptop, positive I wasn't going to get any research done, and set it aside.

It wasn't like I hadn't _thought_ about it. I'd always been pretty fluid about that sort of thing - boys, girls, whatever. Generally I just didn't care, but Axel had caught my attention pretty early on in our friendship. It always just sort of fell to the wayside - we'd only known each other through the video game, and we were always too focused on the game itself to really think about it.

I wasn't an idiot - I knew that Axel was attractive, fun to be around, smarter than he let on, but it wasn't really like that. We were good friends.

"It's not like that," I told Demyx.

"Fine fine, it's not like that," Demyx shrugged. "Then let me ask you this - would you mind if it was?"

Before I could even think of an answer, the door to the bathroom opened. I hadn't even heard the water shut off. Axel strolled out with a towel around his neck, running it through his hair vigorously. When he pulled it down his hair wasn't spiked at all, just a long, tangled mess that reached past his shoulders.

"All clean," Axel exclaimed happily. I noticed his eyes, not for the first time today - unlike Xemnas, Axel's eyes were just as vibrant in real life as they were in the game. That bright, piercing green.

Axel grabbed his phone and checked it, flipping through a few things. I caught myself staring at Axel (as did Demyx, apparently, judging by his chuckle). I quickly gathered my fresh clothes and shut myself in the bathroom.

Through Demyx's interruption, I'd forgotten how excited I was to be clean again. Conventions shouldn't be so physically draining, but between that and my long flight that morning, I felt a layer of grime over my whole body. I decided on a cold shower to cool myself off and climbed in.

I cursed under my breath. I'd forgotten to grab my shampoo and body wash out of the suitcase, but luckily Axel's stuff was already in there. I looked at the shampoo bottle - it was made to retain hair dye. I fucking _knew_ Axel's hair wasn't really that red.

I squeezed some out and lathered it in my hands, focusing on nothing while I scrubbed it into my hair. It smelled really good, and I leaned against the wall of the shower while I shampooed.

This hotel was crazy nice. We didn't even get the largest bedroom and the bathroom was massive, the shower itself big enough to fit two or three people comfortably. I wondered what was even the point of having a shower this size.

I grabbed Axel's bodywash as well and lazily washed myself off, not enough energy in my body to really hurry. I rinsed off and enjoyed the cool water for a few more moments before turning the water off. I grabbed one of the surprisingly soft hotel towels and began drying off.

After that I walked over to the mirror, brushing my hair upwards with my fingers. Part of me wished my hair spiked up like that in the real world, but alas, my hair was flat and boring. 

Something caught my attention - a muffled conversation behind the door. Specifically, I could've sworn I heard my own name. With the water turned off, I could just barely make out what they were discussing on the other side of the door. Surely if I turned off the exhaust fan I'd be able to hear better, but then they might stop talking. I tip-toed to the door and sat down next to it, pressing my ear close to the wood.

" _Do you want to?_ " they asked. It sounded like Demyx.

" _Obviously I do,_ " another responded. That time it was Axel. " _But you know how Roxas is, he'll run screaming._ ".

I perked up at the sound of my own name. So they _were_ talking about me. I closed my eyes and tried to focus even harder on their voices.

" _You don't give him enough credit,_ " said Demyx. " _It's_ so _obvious!_ "

" _To you!_ " Axel replied. " _I'm still...optimistic, but I'm not gonna force the issue and make things weird. Things are good right now._ "

" _But they could be better,_ " said a third voice. It caught me off guard, but I'm pretty sure it was Zexion.

" _Well yeah, obviously,_ " Axel sighed. " _Look, can we drop it for now? He's probably almost done._ "

I didn't hear anything else after that. I walked over and flushed the toilet to make it seem like I wasn't listening in on them.

I rehashed the words over and over in my mind. I couldn't know what they meant - not with 100% certainty. But I wasn't an idiot, and context clues meant a lot (especially since Demyx was the other half of that conversation, and I was well aware of how he perceived my friendship with Axel).

But Axel just _agreed with Demyx_.

Could I be totally misreading the situation? Absolutely! But I couldn't shake the feeling that Axel was on the same page as Demyx.

I shut off the exhaust fan and quickly dressed myself, running a towel through my hair to half-heartedly dry it.

When the door opened and I could hear them more clearly, they'd switched topics and were talking about Kingdom Hearts and speculating about what this big announcement was going to be. They were hoping for a big expansion of some kind (new worlds, quests, weapons, etc), but I barely heard a word of it.

All I was aware of was me, staring a hole into the back of Axel's head, yet not even really watching him. My vision blurred as my mind wandered, and Axel just happened to be where I was glancing.

Is that really...how Axel felt?

It seemed bizarre to even consider it. The way Axel had brushed off the jokes, how he and I interacted daily. It never even crossed my mind that it could be _real_.

I pondered that for a long time, and before I knew it, morning had come. I blinked the sleep out of his eyes - I fell asleep on top of the covers, but definitely woke up under them. I couldn't remember my dream, but had the distinct feeling Axel was in it.

I sat up and rolled my neck to each side, earning a loud pop on the right side. I glanced around the room.

I wasn't the first to awaken, but I _definitely_ wasn't the last. Demyx was sprawled out on the bed, covers thrown aside, and taking up most of the bed. Zexion was either already awake or had given up hope and moved to the couch in the living room.

Slowly, I turned to look down at Axel, still sleeping next to me. He was curled up in the blankets, eyes gently shut, facing towards me. His face was so...smooth? But not like in the game, where everyone had flawless skin (because of course they did). I could see the small imperfections - tiny acne scars, a small cut on his upper lip where he'd cut himself shaving. I eyed the spots under his eyes where he had tattoos in the game, sort of confused that they weren't there.

I'm glad Axel looked like this in the real world. Not that it would have mattered if Axel showed up as somebody else entirely, but we had a similar mindset about looking like our real selves in the game.

Was that something to do with VR gaming as a whole? I noticed that Sora had done the same thing as well. I wondered if there was some psychology behind that, how when it's full-dive you're more like yourself than in regular video games. Had I made my avatar some big tall guy, my perception of the world would be so different.

Something touched my face, startling me and ripping me out of my thoughts. Axel had woken up and poked my cheek, looking up expectantly. "You alright, Roxas?" Axel asked. "Seem like you've got a lot on your mind."

Yeah, that was definitely fair. "Sorry. Just lost in thought," I admitted. Axel sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and stretched his arms over his head and yawned.

I hadn't noticed before, but Axel had quite a few tattoos. On his chest, his arms, one on his back. I had always thought about getting a tattoo but never knew what I wanted, or was never passionate enough about anything to want it on my body forever.

"You hungry?" Axel asked. I had gotten lost in my thoughts again, but once Axel offered food, my stomach growled obnoxiously. Axel heard it, too, and smiled. "Let's go grab something."

The kitchen was empty, so Axel offered to drive and get something to eat. Axel put on a shirt and we both got our shoes and headed out the door.

"So how's Sora?" Axel asked as we rode the elevator down.

"Good," I answered. To be honest, I didn't really know - Sora and I had barely talked since arriving at the convention. I shot Sora a text, asking what time he'd be down at the con. No doubt he was still asleep, but hopefully he'd see it soon.

We went out to Axel's car. It wasn't anything fancy - a little bit older, but definitely in good condition. I climbed into the passenger side of the SUV and buckled in.

When I had gotten in my friends' cars in the past, they always seemed to be a total mess. Discarded to-go bags, cups, usually books and stray papers from school and so on. Axel's wasn't like that at all - there was a coffee cup in the cupholder, and the rest of his car was absolutely spotless.

"Sorry," Axel said sheepishly. He grabbed the coffee cup out of the cupholder and discarded it in a nearby bin, then climbed into the car. Holy shit, Axel was a clean freak. I would've _never_ seen that coming.

Axel pulled out from the parking garage and onto the street. He drove with one hand on the wheel, his head leaned against the other on the window.

"How many tattoos do you have?" I asked. Axel peeked over at me.

Axel's eyes trailed off for a second, like he was counting in his mind. "Twelve."

"What all are they of?"

Axel pulled up his sleeve and gestured to one on his right bicep. He went down the list, pointing to the spots where some tattoos were covered by his shirt. Apparently he also had one on his leg that I hadn't seen.

Most of them were music related - pieces from album covers, lyrics he liked, things like that. "Do you have any from Kingdom Hearts?" I asked.

"Not yet. I've thought about getting the Nobody symbol, but haven't yet," he said. "Oh, actually I do have 13, I have another one on my back."

"What of?"

Axel laughed awkwardly. "It's, uh...it's a date. My anniversary with my ex-boyfriend."

I took a moment to process his words. Did he say ex-boyfriend?

I flashed back to the time when Axel had been late to our meeting because he was on a date. I _specifically_ remembered Axel using female pronouns. So did that mean Axel was bi? We'd never discussed the topic before, but Axel certainly wasn't shy about it now. Maybe it was never a secret and it just never came up.

"Ex-boyfriend, huh?" I asked. "You ever think about having it removed?"

Axel seemed confused by the question. "Why would I do that?"

"I don't know. I always hear about those stories where people get their partner's names tattooed on them and then regret it when they break up," I shrugged awkwardly.

Axel just smiled. "I guess. But I don't feel that way. I mean, we're not together anymore but he was important to me for a long time. That experience is a big part of who I am now. Getting it taken off would be like...trying to forget that it ever happened."

I didn't expect to, but I really liked that answer. Something about the way Axel phrased it made me wonder how old he even was - suddenly, I realized I'd never bothered to ask. "How old are you, Axel?"

"21," he answered.

21\. Four years older than me - I'd never really thought much about Axel's age until we met in the real world, but he was quite a bit older than me. Four years wasn't a _super_ long time, but the different between 17 and 21 is way more severe than say 30 and 34. Axel was, by all definitions, an adult, and although I felt like I was mature, I was still a minor.

Axel pulled into a drive-thru and ordered some breakfast for us, and insisted on paying for it all. I had plenty of money saved up from my allowance, and Axel probably worked hard for his money, but still he insisted.

We both decided to eat on the way home, Axel driving with his free hand and eating with the other while I dug into my biscuit. I felt like I hadn't eaten in days - conventions seemed to have a way of distracting you, even from food, and by the time I finished, I wished I'd gotten a second biscuit.

"Hey, when we get back I need to log into Kingdom Hearts for a few minutes. Could you wait up before we head down to the convention?" Axel asked.

"Yeah, totally," I answered.

"Thanks." Axel looked ahead sternly. I wasn't sure why, but I really didn't like the expression on his face.


	14. The Hotel

What the hell was taking Axel so long?

I looked down at Axel's still body. His bright red hair poked out from the bottom of it, sprawled out over the hotel pillow.

He'd been in the game for almost half an hour now. He said it would be quick, but Axel didn't seem to be in any hurry. I pressed the Alert button on his helmet, but even after several more minutes, Axel didn't wake up. I decided to put my own helmet on, and go in and check on Axel.

In a weird way, it was such a relief to be in Kingdom Hearts again.

Meeting with everyone in the real world was stressful and exhausting. In here, I could pretend like all the stress and confusion in my real life didn't exist and just fight some Heartless.

I glanced around the castle - with everyone at the convention, I wasn't surprised to see the castle totally empty except for me. Axel wasn't around, but he didn't always log out at the castle, so I wasn't sure where he was.

According to my friends list, Axel was definitely online. I sent him a message, but received no reply.

"Where are you..." I spoke to the empty room.

Having leveled up my Dark Magic skill over the past two months, I opened a Dark Corridor to Twilight Town.

I stepped into the town square, totally abandoned. It wasn't a surprise - Traverse Town probably still had its usual crowd since newer players generally wouldn't go to the trouble of going to a convention, but Twilight Town was usually home to higher level players. I walked around for a bit, enjoying the empty streets and taking in the sights.

I looked up at the clocktower, thinking about going up there to look for Axel, but something nagging in the back of my mind told me not to. Suddenly I received a notification - an update on a quest, despite that I hadn't done anything. I opened the Quest menu.

A new quest had appeared - it had no name, just three question marks, and no description to be found. I had never seen that before - even the weird quest in the Station of Serenity had a title. All it had was a quest marker leading towards the outskirts of Twilight Town. Unsure of what it meant, and with few other options to explore, I decided to follow the marker and see where it lead.

"Is this leading to the mansion?" I wondered aloud. I double checked the path the quest was taking me on, and I couldn't think of any alternatives. It was one of the only areas in Twilight Town where enemies spawned. The Nobodies there weren't particularly challenging, but they did give some good experience, and I knew that at least a couple members of Organization 13 would farm experience there. I'd never been there myself, but I knew it existed.

As I passed through the forest, I knew the Nobodies here weren't anything I couldn't handle at my current level. A few Snipers simplified things by giving me an extra weapon to play around with, running and batting it around at the enemies for huge damage. When the forest was clear, I gathered the Munny and HP and headed for the mansion.

I still wasn't sure what this quest was doing, nor why I was following it when I was supposed to be looking for Axel. I was used to weird happenings in the game by now, and I was really just ready to roll with the punches at this point. I checked my menu again, and although Axel was still online, he still hadn't replied to my message.

A huge iron gate stood between me and my quest marker. On the front was a cartoonishly large padlock, keeping the area shut off. I glanced at the map - there was definitely map data for the inside of the mansion, so _somebody_ had been inside, but it seemed like the public wasn't really supposed to access it.

If I had learned one thing in Kingdom Hearts, it's that locks meant nothing to Keyblade Masters. I pointed Oathkeeper at the padlock, and on cue, a beam of light shot out connecting his weapon to the lock. The lock disappeared in a brief flash of light, and the gate swung open.

As I entered the perimeter of the castle, I received another Quest notification. "Explore the mysterious mansion," read the instruction.

I entered the mansion suspiciously, Oathkeeper at the ready in case something popped out at me. As expected, a few Nobodies appeared, but I made short work of the Dusks and Creepers.

When defeating the Nobodies didn't cause the quest to update, I took another look around the room.

It was a large, open area, the only real decorations being dusty paintings and smashed furniture. I headed up the right staircase and deeper into the mansion.

As quickly as I was upstairs, the next room had a different staircase led him back down into some sort of basement. It looked like some sort of laboratory, with an elaborate terminal and screens with unintelligible data. There was another door leading deeper into the lab.

After a long, curved hallway, I was blinded by a new, bizarre room. It was huge, expanding into an endless white that didn't even seem possible. I was sure that if I walked off I'd hit some sort of invisible barrier, but the room looked like it went on forever.

Directly ahead, in the center of the room, was a bizarre structure. Some...egg-looking thing. I'd never seen anything like it. On the ground surrounding it were these weird, pulsing green marks in a pattern all around the egg.

As I approached the egg, a bizarre Nobody spawned in. It looked like it was juggling playing cards, and its head came into an odd spike, and for a moment it reminded me of Luxord. I'd fought my fair share of Nobodies by now, but this one was entirely new.

It lunged at me, but I dodge rolled aside and swung my Keyblade upwards as I regained my footing. I unleashed a brutal combo on the powerful Nobody, but it took quite a few more hits before the monster went down.

What was that thing? I'd fought tons of Nobodies, and they all had weird attack algorithms, but this one was unlike anything I'd ever seen.

"Excellent form, Roxas," a voice announced. I spun quickly and brought Oathkeeper up again, ready to fight.

What stood before me was not another Nobody, but a person - a tall man whose face was wrapped in dark red bandages, only a single golden-orange eye visible. He wore elaborate black and red robes that reached all the way to the ground, with a strange glowing blue detailing on his chest. It reminded me of the grid in Space Paranoids.

"Who are you?" I asked, Keyblade at the ready. I scanned the man up and down.

He stood perfectly still, like a statue, so for a moment I could've mistaken him for an NPC. I knew it wasn't an NPC, though - NPC's didn't say a player's name. He didn't have a cursor above his head, which meant he wasn't a player, either - this guy was like Ansem.

"You're only moments too late, Roxas. You just missed Axel," said the strange man. Something about the way he spoke seemed weirdly familiar - the way he rolled the R in my name, the odd tone that was so unlike any voice I'd ever heard yet for some reason I could swear I had. It was vaguely similar to an English accent, but definitely different.

I ignored the man's goading about Axel. "Who are you? I won't ask again."

The man chuckled. "I suspect not. Axel was the one who contacted me, but I think you're the one with the questions, aren't you, Roxas?"

"Contacted you?" I questioned. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The man sighed. His visible eye traveled down to my Keyblade, scanning the weapon. "I'm glad to finally see Oathkeeper being put to use. Such a beautiful weapon, wasting away in the game's data."

I looked down at Oathkeeper, still clutched tightly in my fist. Something about the way the man said it, the way he looked at Oathkeeper...

"DiZ?" I guessed. The man nodded in response.

This is the guy Axel had found on Reddit - the one who sketched out Oathkeeper.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Why all the mystery surrounding this Keyblade? And in the Station of Serenity..."

DiZ's smile grew. "You're referring to the image on the eighth platform? The dueling Keyblade warriors, each with two weapons. One of light, one of darkness?" he asked. I nodded. "By now I'm sure you've surmised that those are not characters in the game, but an image of players."

"Yeah," I confirmed. "The one on the left, sided with the Darkness...is that me?"

DiZ nodded. "And sided with the light, your very own brother, Sora."

I felt my heartbeat jump - how did this guy know Sora was my brother?

"Who are you really?" I asked, raising his keyblade again. "How did you know about Sora?"

DiZ laughed, a deep, hearty yet sinister laugh. He swiped his right hand through the air like a player would to open their menu. Whatever popped up for DiZ wasn't a regular menu - tons of data went across the screen that I couldn't decipher even if I had a better view. DiZ went typing away on his menu for a few moments, then swiped his hand across it. The menu flipped around to face me, crossing the room to give me a closer look.

At the top of the menu, in large text read "ADMINISTRATOR MENU". Down lower on the page were two lines of text - one starting with the name Sora, the other Roxas. And off to the right, two nearly identical codes. For a second I thought they were IP addresses, but they were not.

"Two players logging in using the same internet connection with matching birthdays. At first, your account was flagged as a second account of Sora's, but upon further research, both accounts were being used at the same time," DiZ elaborated.

"Is it common for admins to review this type of thing?" I asked. "That's what you are, right? A system admin?"

"Not exactly," DiZ replied, seeming to answer both questions at once. The menu spun back around automatically to face DiZ, and he typed in something else. The man gestured for me to come closer, and although I wasn't sure why, I did.

DiZ played a video - a video of me logging into Kingdom Hearts for the very first time. The video shook a little, and I instantly understood that this was direct footage from what DiZ had seen himself.

"I knew immediately that you were not Sora," DiZ said. "Sora knows this game inside and out, yet you didn't even know how to open your menu. And in that short window of time..."

The video panned down as DiZ looked at his menu, and pulled up my character. A few clicks of a button, and the Keyblade Mastery skill was added to my data, and the Kingdom Key in my inventory.

Realization hit me like a truck. So receiving the Keyblade was no accident - an admin had done it manually. Or, at the very least, somebody with admin privileges.

"It was you," I said. "You gave me the Keyblade?" DiZ nodded.

"I'd waited for so long for somebody like you. Not that you would be Sora's brother, or anything of the sort...but finally, a dedicated player that would side with the Darkness."

The video jumped - DiZ was messing with a map, dragging some sort of cursor across the map and creating a path. It was a quest marker, I recognized.

When the menu closed, I saw Zexion. It was the day we met - Zexion was passing through Traverse Town.

"Did you not think it odd that such a high-level player would be in the beginning town?" DiZ asked. Zexion closed his menu, and opened a Dark Corridor to Traverse Town and began walking, following his quest marker. He pulled a book out of his inventory and flipped through it as he walked, and only moments later, the video showed me approaching him. DiZ had modified the path of his quest marker so that Zexion and I would meet.

I stumbled back, speechless. Everything I'd ever done in Kingdom Hearts - _everything_ \- orchestrated by DiZ.

"Why?" I asked. "Why go to all this trouble...for me?"

DiZ laughed. I glared at him, but he disappeared in a flash of pixels and re-appeared across the room, facing him.

"This barely has anything to do with you, Roxas," said DiZ. "The game needed to move forward, and I am a servant of this game. Which means at best, you should consider yourself a tool."

"Then why am I here?" I shouted defiantly. "You drew me here with that quest marker. If I'm just a tool, why go to all this trouble?"

DiZ chuckled. "Because like all tools, they get worn down and occasionally need to be sharpened."

DiZ raised one hand above his head and snapped his finger. The egg behind him cracked - not like a real egg, more like panels on the egg began to separate. Then it started opening up like a blooming flower. 

My quest updated with new instructions: " _Enter the pod._ "

"And what's stopping me from turning around and leaving?" I called out.

"Nothing at all. The door is open," DiZ shrugged. "But what's the harm in trying? After all...it's only a game."

DiZ laughed and disappeared again, this time vanishing entirely. I looked around expectantly, waiting for the man to materialize, but he never did.

I took a few moments to collect myself, wrestling with all the new information flooding my brain. DiZ had planned all this - but for what? What was his goal? He said the game needed to move forward, but I had no idea what he meant by that.

Begrudgingly, I decided to indulge my curiosity, slowly moving forwards to the pod. I knew he should leave, turn on my heel and go find Axel. But something about the way DiZ said it...

What did he mean by 'sharpening'? Would entering the pod make me stronger somehow? Even if it didn't, I didn't want to pass up the opportunity...

So I gave in. I climbed into the pod, and it closed behind me. Whatever white noise had been in the background went completely dead, just the tiniest of ringing in my ears as the whole world went silent.

I stood still for a moment. My hand lightly traced across the side of the pod, feeling the cool metal. Something made an odd, gurgling noise under my feet. Out of nowhere, black fluid started to fill the pod.

I tried to lift my feet out of the muck, but it clung to my shoes like glue. The pace quickened, and before I could react it was up to my knees. I drew Oathkeeper and slashed at the walls of the pod, doing whatever I could to break it open. But it wasn't meant to be breakable, and the game wouldn't allow it.

Up to my chest - I started panicking. I shouted for help, knowing full well that no other players were in the area. I tried to open my menu, but my hand was shaking so badly that the game didn't even recognize the motion control.

I was terrified of drowning. One time when I was trying to learn to swim, my dad threw me into the pool without warning. Sora had already been swimming, but it freaked me out. My tiny seven year old body sank like a brick, and I'd been terrified of the water ever since.

Really it wasn't logical to be so freaked out in the game, because I knew I wasn't in any _real_ danger, but my instincts kicked in and it was all I could do not to start crying. As it rose past my shoulders, I reached up to the top of the pod. My fingertips could barely touch the top of the pod, and there wasn't really anything I could grab onto even if I _were_ taller. An alert appeared in my vision - a warning about my elevated heart rate.

The muck kept rising, and I held my breath as it covered my mouth. I leaned my head back so that only my nose was above the surface, and then it consumed me entirely.

Something tugged in the back of my head and I shot straight up, gasping for air. Something pulled on me, closing me in, so I lashed out and fought it away. I rolled to one side off a small ledge, and crashed onto the ground.

My eyes snapped open, still breathing heavily, heart pounding out of my chest. I stared at the soft, beige carpet.

Slowly I gathered myself, feeling my whole body covered in sweat. I was back in the hotel room, helmet still on. I pulled it off slowly, hands still shaking.

"Roxas, Roxas are you okay?" someone asked. I barely heard them, it was like the voice was muffled for some reason. I looked up and saw Axel watching me nervously.

As soon as our eyes met, my eyes welled up. Emotion poured out of me, and instantly I broke down and started to cry. Axel pulled me up onto the bed and I collapsed against him, gripping the front of his T-shirt and curling into him as closely as possible.

I hadn't realized before - what I was batting away was Axel trying to comfort me, to hold me as soon as I came back to the real world. I didn't know exactly why I was logged out - whether DiZ did it, my heart rate got too high (there's a safety program in place for that), or if Axel unplugged the helmet. Either way, I was thankful to be out of the game, and thankful Axel was there.

We stayed like that for a long time. The rest of the guild had already left for the day, but I stayed curled up against him. Somehow or another we both got more comfortable, Axel laying back on the bed, propped up against the pillow with me leaning against him. Axel didn't ask why I was so freaked out, and for that I was thankful.

"You okay?" Axel asked. I didn't move and didn't speak, not even wanting to shake my head. Axel was warm - I'd noticed it when we hugged, meeting in person for the first time, but now it was even more apparent. My skin tingled against Axel's wherever there was contact. The back of my neck with Axel's bicep, our ankles where mine crossed over Axel's the way we were lying down.

"Okay," Axel said to himself when I didn't respond.

My mind flashed back to Demyx's jokes, and when Demyx asked if we were together. I thought about when I was in the shower, and Axel and Demyx were discussing...something.

I remembered all those countless hours on the clock tower in Twilight Town, all the digital ice cream we'd shared. The stories we exchanged, both from real life and in the game. Those moments between us, the intangible electricity that passed from him to me and back to him. I'd felt it a million times - the unspoken feeling that we both had, but didn't know how to say aloud. I knew I'd felt it, but never knew why.

I thought about how ever since we met, I had been playing Kingdom Hearts basically just to hang out with Axel. Sure, the game was fun and I really enjoyed it, but I was positive that if not for Axel I would've stopped playing a long time ago.

" _Come on, I'm serious! Are you two...you know!_ " Demyx had asked.

I sat up slowly, pulling away from Axel. It was weird - even suggesting it, I _knew_ it was weird.

"Roxas?" Axel said. It wasn't really a question, he was just surprised that I had moved.

Then he was even more surprised when I leaned forward and pressed a soft, brief kiss on Axel's lips.

I didn't even realize I was doing it until Axel pulled away. I reached up and covered my mouth with one hand, surprised by my own actions, and then looked away.

"Roxas, I..." Axel paused. "I didn't know you..."

"Sorry," I apologized. Chill bumps sprung up all over my body, regret and panic setting in immediately. "I shouldn't have done that."

Axel shook his head. He grabbed my hand, the one touching my lips, and pulled it away from my face and kissed me again.

I melted against him. I didn't realize until then how long I'd been waiting to do that - the fleeting glances, the comfort I felt just talking and laughing with Axel up on that tower. All of it had lead to this, laying on a hotel bed and finally connecting.

When I eventually pulled away, I could feel the burning on my cheeks. Axel noticed too, reaching up and rubbing a thumb across it like he was trying to sooth the bright red skin.

"What are you blushing for?" Axel half-laughed.

"I don't know," I admitted with a small smile. "It's involuntary."

I curled back down, head lying in the crook of Axel's arm. "So now what do we do?" I asked. "I don't...know where to go from here."

Axel nodded. "For the long term...I don't know. But for now, we should probably head down to the convention."

I grunted, not liking that answer. Axel was right - surely at some point the others would realize that Axel and I hadn't come down to the con, and it was only a couple of hours until our panel. But I was content to lay here with Axel for the rest of the day if he'd let me.

"Come on, Roxas," Axel said gently. He leaned up slowly and brought me up with him, and we sat up straight in the bed. I looked up at the older man, and without thinking leaned up to kiss him again.

"Am I allowed to do that now?" I asked, somewhat kidding.

Axel nodded. "As often as you want."


	15. The Convention (Part 2)

I didn't even process that mee and Axel were holding hands when we walked into the convention center. And, naturally, it just so happened that Demyx and Zexion were near the entrance when we arrived. I was notified of their presence when I heard a loud "CALLED IT!" from Demyx.

I pulled my hand away from Axel as Demyx quickly approached the pair, with Zexion trailing slowly behind.

"Called it!" Demyx shouted again. "Called it, I fucking told you, I called it. Zexion, pay up."

"You keep insisting that I agreed to this bet," Zexion sighed, slapping away Demyx's outstretched hand, waiting for money that Zexion surely wasn't going to hand over. "As per usual, I find myself apologizing for Demyx's behavior."

"We're used to it by now, Zexion," Axel smiled, waving off the nut. Axel wrapped his arm around my waist and tugged me against his side, surprising me. "So have your moment, Demyx, you were right."

Demyx may as well have pulled out some pom-poms and done a full cheerleading routine. He didn't seem to have the physical capabilities in the real world, but in-game he'd probably be doing backflips. Axel rolled his eyes, still smiling, and I couldn't stop the burning in my face as Axel guided me away from the duo.

"We're gonna be getting a lot of that, aren't we?" I asked sheepishly.

"Probably a little from Xigbar, but I think that was the worst of it," Axel grinned. He spun around and stood in front of me, leaning down a little bit to meet me at eye level. "What is it, Roxas? You're not _embarrassed_ , are you?" he teased.

Feeling defiant, I inched forward and placed a kiss on Axel's' lips. "No," I replied shortly. Axel smiled and straightened up, and I grabbed his hand again as we walked further into the convention.

The convention was even busier than it was yesterday. Saturday was the biggest day of the con, with the biggest panels, events, and of course this big announcement in the evening. That was still several hours away. Near the vendor room there were some mats set up to let people fight with foam weapons, which seemed funny to watch.

"Roxas!" someone yelled. I perked up and instinctively his hand fell out of Axel's, and I looked across the room to see Sora waving at me. Sora jogged over with a taller, somber looking man and a redheaded girl trailing behind.

"Hey, Sora," I greeted awkwardly.

"So why did someone just mistake me for you and ask where my boyfriend is?" Sora asked, out of breath from running. For being such a powerhouse in-game, Sora was pretty out of shape in the real world, too.

Axel chuckled at that. "Is that what we are now, Roxas? Boyfriends?"

"I've never used that word," I defended.

"So are you two...?" Sora asked, a pointed finger bouncing between Axel and I.

I felt my cheeks light up for about the millionth time today. "I guess? I don't know."

"Word sure travels fast here, huh?" Axel joked.

We all fell silent for a brief moment, and the girl decided to introduce herself. "I'm Kairi, nice to finally meet you, Roxas," she smiled. She offered a handshake which I took, happy for the change in topic.

"Hi, Kairi," I said.

"And you already know Riku," she said.

"You two really are identical," Riku teased, and he and I nodded in greeting.

It was sort of a weird standoff. In the game, the Warriors of Light were our biggest rivals, but here they were being polite and introducing themselves. Roxas supposed it was likely because of me and Sora making some sort of a bridge between the two guilds.

We exchanged a few more words, and I still caught the occasional odd glance from Sora. Sora mentioned that they were going to look for the "arena" where people were sparring, and we all decided to go over as a group.

It was about what I expected. People who, in-game, were probably beasts among men, who in the real world didn't have the physical capabilities to match up. It was interesting seeing peoples' different styles, though, because I could tell they had technique - familiarity with the weapons they wielded, even if they weren't quite as effective as when they were in virtual reality.

"How about a round, Roxas?" Sora offered. He approached and grabbed two of the blue foam bats, tossing one at me. I barely managed to catch it.

It was almost exactly the size and weight of the Kingdom Key. I had gotten used to the lighter Oathkeeper over the past couple of months, but I still felt comfortable giving it a couple of swings.

"You sure you want to risk your reputation like that, Sora?" Axel joked. "You don't have a level advantage here."

"I'm not worried," he joked. It could have come off as rude, but I could tell Sora was only kidding.

"Yeah, you're on," I grinned.

They spoke with the guy running the arena, who seemed to recognize us (probably because of Sora, though I was unsure which one of us he thought was Sora). He guided us to an empty mat and told them to stand in their positions.

"State your usernames," he said.

"Sora," said Sora.

"Roxas," I said.

The man looked at Sora for a lingering moment, knowing who he was for sure now, and nodded.

"Sora versus Roxas," he repeated. He put the whistle around his neck into his mouth and blew it, beginning the match.

Sora didn't hesitate, sprinting forward and swinging his bat from left to right. It was a smart move - it kept his chest covered by his right arm on the early part of his swing, keeping me from taking a cheap shot at him.

I blocked his swing and pushed his bat upwards, exposing his chest for me to knock my shoulder into him to push Sora back. He recoiled, and I took the opportunity to swing my bat downwards and connect with Sora's shoulder.

Sora jumped back, creating some distance between us. I smiled to myself, holding my weapon comfortably like I'd done so many times in Kingdom Hearts. It was like I could see the armor on Sora, see that blue bat replaced with his Keyblade. Neither of us were used to fighting without the extra agility the game allowed its players, but we both wanted to make it work.

I took the offensive, lunging forwards with my bat pointed straight at Sora. Sora parried to one side and took a swing at me that I narrowly dodged by ducking low.

We went back and forth, and as I grew tired Sora started landing more and more hits. It felt like a real fight in-game (minus all the jumping and magic). If I had a health bar in real life, I could tell I was starting to run low.

And it felt more even than I'd expected - I got my fair share of hits on Sora, too, but it was clear that Sora had more experience with a weapon like this. He countered more of my attacks, landed more blows, and seemed to just fight more smoothly in general.

I put all my strength into one last swing to try and knock Sora down, which backfired almost immediately. Sora spun out of the way and swung his bat low, sweeping my legs out from under me and sending me tumbling to the ground. A whistle blew, and the man announced Sora as the winner.

People started clapping. I hadn't noticed before, but a small crowd had gathered to watch us fight. The match had lasted several exhausting minutes, enough time for at least twenty people to gather round and watch.

A few of them called out to Sora, congratulating him on his win. A few people yelled something about the Keyblade.

Sora offered me a hand and helped me back to my feet. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and flashed a huge grin to the crowd, waving his other hand over his head to them.

I squirmed under all the attention - most people probably didn't know Sora and I were brothers, much less twins, but no doubt it would make the rounds in the game now. I wasn't really embarrassed that I lost - sure, I wanted to win, but it wasn't like there was anything riding on our little sparring match. Once I got leveled up some more, I promised myself that I would challenge Sora to a duel in-game.

"Nice fight, Roxas," Axel grinned as we exited the ring. "You'll get him next time." 

"I know," Roxas grinned, and Sora rolled his eyes with a smile. I bid my brother farewell, and we went our separate ways.

I was hungry again, so Axel and I went to go grab some food from the concession stand inside the convention. About half an hour after our fight, I felt my back and arms start to ache.

"Fighting doesn't hurt this much in the game," I complained as I leaned back in the hard seats, rubbing a sore spot on my left shoulder. "Why did I agree to do that fight?"

"Because you're more competitive with your brother than you think you are," Axel teased. I glared at him, but Axel just grinned and chomped on a nacho.

I ate my pretzel in silence, not acknowledging Axel's comment. We sat close to each other and every now and then I could feel Axel's knee bump against mine.

Axel seemed to suddenly remember something. "Oh, shit, our panel!"

I had completely forgotten about it. I scrambled for my phone and realized that it was 2:50, meaning we only had ten minutes to get to the panel room. I wasn't even sure what it was about, only that Xemnas said everyone had to be there.

I crammed my pretzel down as we made our way quickly to the panel room, getting there with only two minutes to spare. Demyx sighed with relief as we came into view, and the three of us headed into the panel room together.

A huge gathering of people showed up. I scanned the room quickly, looking for any familiar faces even though that was a stupid idea in the first place; these were players from an online video game.

As the clock struck three and everyone took their seats, I looked out into the huge crowd of people. " _Oh, shit._ "


	16. The Panel

"Welcome, everyone, to the Organization 13 Q&A Panel," Xemnas began. The crowd erupted into applause.

I've never been a huge fan of public speaking. Crowds as a whole didn't really bother me when I wasn't the center of attention. And I wasn't _the_ center of attention, but this was still more than I was comfortable with.

The thirteen of us sat in a line behind a long conference table, a slightly raised platform looking out into a sea of other KH players. This was one of the larger panel rooms, and this room was standing room only. To throw a number on it, there couldn't have been any less than 500 people in attendance.

As the applause settled down, Xemnas spoke again into his microphone. "As one of the leading guilds in Kingdom Hearts, we're all excited to welcome you to our Q&A panel. I think we will start by going down the line and introducing ourselves."

Xemnas went first, and they went in order not from the table, but by number in the Organization, meaning I would go last. I sat near the center of the table, only three seats to Xemnas' left, with Axel on my right and Larxene on my left.

As Xigbar began introducing himself, I leaned into Axel's ear. "Why are we doing this again?" I whispered.

Axel shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. I think Xemnas mentioned something about the convention actually asking us to hold the panel?"

That was odd. I didn't know much about how conventions worked, but that seemed unusual.

"Hey, guys, I'm Axel, 21 years old, and I'm Number 8 in the Organization," he said, receiving some applause from the audience. "Been with the guild for almost a year now."

It continued down the line, and my leg automatically started to bounce under the table. My chest tightened, and my whole body seemed to get hot. With each person that introduced themselves, my chest kept getting tighter. I scratched my forehead and realized it was covered in sweat.

Axel gripped my hand under the table, and at that moment I realized that I was balling my hands into tight, tight fists in the thighs of my pants. Axel gave me a comforting squeeze, his thumb trailing over the back of my clenched fist. I closed my eyes, forced a deep breath, and tried to relax.

"Roxas?" Xemnas prompted. My eyes opened again, not realizing that Larxene had finished speaking.

"H-Hey," I began speaking into the microphone. Axel squeezed my hand again under the table. "I'm Roxas, I'm Number 13, 17 years old. Newest member of the guild. Been with these guys about...what, four months now? Yeah, that sounds right."

Not exactly the most riveting answer, I received a few scattered claps. Xemnas cleared his throat, and in a few words opened up the floor for questions. I didn't know what kinds of questions they would ask, but quite a few people lined up down the two isles in front of standing microphones.

"Hey, uh so my question is for all of you, I guess," the one at the left mic began. "The rumor going around is that one of you is a Keyblade Master, is that true?"

The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Noticing my hesitation, Axel spoke up on my behalf. "Yes, that would be our Roxas, here," he said, pulled his hand away from mine to pat me on the back.

"I have a follow-up question for Roxas," said the girl at the other microphone. "I met Sora from the Warriors of Light yesterday, and you two look...exactly the same. What's the story there?"

I cleared my throat nervously. "Sora is actually, uh...my twin brother. In real life, I mean."

"And you're both Keyblade masters?" asked the girl.

"Y-Yeah," I stuttered.

Murmurs spread through the audience, confusion and disbelief among the noise. "Settle down, settle down," Xemnas said, and the audience grew quiet again. "I know what you all are thinking. For a time, even we were unaware of Roxas' connection to our largest rival in the real world. I even questioned how it could be possible that two brothers, living under the same roof, could both end up as Keyblade masters."

I flashed back to what had happened in the game - my meeting with DiZ. I knew _exactly_ how I ended up a Keyblade master, even if I didn't know why. Suddenly I realized I hadn't even spoken about that with Axel yet. Axel met with DiZ, too! What did they discuss? I made a mental note to ask Axel about it as soon as we were alone.

"But Roxas' personal life is his own. In the game, he is a member of Organization 13," Xemnas said finally. He turned his head slightly to the side, locking eyes with me for a moment and nodding.

"Besides, I've still got like thirty levels in game and fifty pounds IRL on Roxas and I'd break him in half if he betrayed us," Xigbar joked, and the room laughed, lightening the tone a bit. I breathed a sigh of relief, and the questions moved along.

Most of it was pretty surface stuff - why did you guys set up shop in one of the most dangerous worlds, our favorite weapons, our favorite worlds. Someone mentioned Neverland, and I remembered Axel mentioning that world on our first day together, but I still hadn't visited.

"What about you, Axel?" Luxord prompted after giving his answer.

"Twilight Town, no question," he answered quickly. I watched Axel's face closely, his warm expression. Axel stared off into the distance like he was watching the sunset from our clocktower, and it was like I could see that black robe on him.

"Me, too," I agreed. "Axel and I go there all the time. Best ice cream in Kingdom Hearts."

Axel and I locked eyes for a moment, meeting his soft glance, and immediately I shifted my gaze away. I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly.

I had no issue with being publicly affectionate, or with anyone knowing that me and Axel were...involved. Hell, we were walking around the con all day holding hands, but it was somehow embarrassing to act like that in front of people up here.

As the panel went on, someone stood in line. He wore an expensive looking suit, a huge difference to the rest of the room. Like me, almost everyone was wearing jeans and T-shirts, hoodies, all casual wear, and he stood in line patiently waiting for his turn. He had platinum blond hair, slicked back close to his scalp, and waited with his hands folded together politely.

When his turn came, the man stepped up to the microphone and cleared his throat. "I have a question for Roxas." My heart jumped out of my chest. Axel reacted, too, and we each shot each other a look. His voice...there was no mistake.

It was DiZ.

"Roxas, you have only been with the organization for a very short time, the guild rivaling your own brother's guild, the Warriors of Light," he explained. "If you were to, say, come into conflict with your opposition, do you think you could win?"

Why did DiZ want to know that? Did it matter? The only way two players could fight is in a duel, either improvised or in Olympus Coliseum. Kingdom Hearts didn't have a PVP function like that.

Regardless, I decided to answer his question. "At my current level, no," I said honestly. I took a deep breath. "But I've fought alongside Sora before, and if I can level up high enough to match him, I think I could."

"Then allow me a follow-up question," DiZ requested. "You say you could defeat Sora in a battle, but don't you worry that your real life relationship might take precedence over your loyalties to the Guild?"

The room, and even the other members of the Guild, turned to face me. I took a deep breath.

"When I first signed up for Kingdom Hearts, I didn't tell my brother because I knew he was a higher level than me and I didn't want him to babysit me through the game," he began. "I had no idea that he was...so known, and respected as one of the strongest players in the game. I only learned his reputation later, and by the time he found out I played, I was already with Organization 13. My alliances in-game are with the guild before my brother. Any conflict we might have in-game is just that, a game."

DiZ nodded, thanking me, and politely excused himself. Rather than taking a seat, he exited the room without looking back.

Nobody else posed a question to me specifically, most opting instead to address the guild as a whole. When it came to the end of the Q&A, Xemnas thanked everyone for coming, and the room slowly trickled out.

A few players stayed behind to talk to us more personally. A young man who didn't provide his username nodded at me and Axel. He had a sort of stank face, like something in the room smelled rotten, but he mostly just seemed to be waiting on somebody.

One girl stuck out. She walked right up to me and shook my hand. "Nice to meet you, Roxas. I'm Aqua."

I wondered for a moment if that was her real name, or her in-game name. Either way, the name rung a bell in the back of my mind. "You're...in Sora's guild, right?" I asked.

Aqua nodded. "That's right."

So she was a Keyblade master, too. I'd never met her in-game, but she seemed friendly enough in real life.

"These are my friends, Ventus..." she began, gesturing to the shorter boy at her side. He smiled and waved at me. "And Terra." The huge, hulking brown haired boy simply nodded. "They're in the guild, too."

"Nice to meet you all," I said. Axel walked up to the four of us.

"Sup," he greeted. He looked over to the trio, and only semi-sarcastically said "Aqua, nice to see you again."

She smiled at that. "Awfully cordial coming from someone who lost a pretty public duel with me," she teased.

"Things have changed. That was a lot of levels ago," he smiled back. Axel smirked wickedly at her. "I'm ready for a rematch whenever you are."

That actually made her laugh, and she smiled. "Sure, I'll message you when I get home from the convention." She paused for a moment, looking me up and down again. "Just wanted to meet you before the big announcement. I'll see you around...Roxas."

Something about the way she said that was odd in a way I couldn't really describe. The trio headed out of the panel room, the stank-faced boy hot on their heels, walking closely alongside that Ventus guy. I looked around, noticing that most of Organization 13 had left as well.

"That was uncomfortable," I half-joked. Axel just smiled and shrugged.

"As far as that guild goes, Aqua isn't all that bad. And she's way strong - if Sora's #1, she's #2. Believe me," he said seriously. Axel grabbed my hand. "Come on. We've got a couple hours until the announcement, I want to go to the vendor room again."


	17. The Announcement

Standing room only.

The huge auditorium was absolutely flooded with people. Everyone that could possibly fit was crammed in, with a line out the door stretching all the way through the center. There was absolutely no chance this wasn't a fire hazard.

"This is fucking insane," Axel said.

That was plainly obvious. We were too late to find any seats, but early enough for Axel and I to get a spot in the back of the room where we could stand and watch the big announcement. Axel and I scanned the room, looking for other members of our guild, but it was a wasted effort. There had to be more than a thousand people in this auditorium, there was absolutely no way we were going to be able to find them in the crowd.

We had to adjust our position a few times as more and more people crowded in, but eventually we landed in one spot, allowing us to relax a little. This was a good example of my relationship with crowds; this wasn't freaking me out since I wasn't the center of attention, it was just annoying.

"This had better be good," I grumbled, and Axel smiled.

We chatted and took a moment to relax, waiting for a little under half an hour before it finally got underway. The lights went down and spotlights came on, all shining on the large stage at the front of the room. The room exploded into applause, and even though I was annoyed with the crowd, Axel and I cheered along with them.

A man approached the podium. He was older, bald with a greyish goatee, and sort of a hunch as he leaned into the mic.

"Good evening, players," he said, his gravelly voice crackling through the speakers. "For those of you who may not know, I am Xehanort, CEO of DTD Holdings, the creators of Kingdom Hearts."

The room applauded again. Axel and I exchanged a look; this guy was the creator of Kingdom Hearts? Truthfully, through all the Wiki reading I'd done and these months playing the game, I never gave much thought to who was creating the game or ran the company, who was pushing out these regular updates and bug patches.

"I wanted to formally thank you all for coming to our first Kingdom Hearts convention. As you can all see, it has been a tremendous success. So thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to hosting this every year from now on," he announced. The room burst into cheers, even louder than before, knowing that this was now going to be an annual event. As the room settled down, Xehanort continued speaking.

"When we began production on Kingdom Hearts, we knew it was something special. Virtual Reality had never been pushed in the way we've done it, and it is our restless and continued goal to bring the utmost quality to this game. Expansive lore, enhanced combat, even how players interact with each other via trading and interpersonal menus," he listed off. "But there has been one key complaint about Kingdom Hearts ever since its inception - the Keyblade."

I perked up at that. The room was entirely silent, and Axel squeezed my shoulder. "I and the staff at DTD have heard the complaints of the balancing issue in Kingdom Hearts. And for the central image of the game to be so exclusive, we knew going into it that this was a calculated decision."

The crowd murmured, and with only a wave of his hand, Xehanort silenced the room again. "Above all else, we wanted the community of Kingdom Hearts to be engaged in the lore of our worlds. The Keyblade Wielders are the Heroes of our tale - great warriors, capable of channeling both light and darkness. Though, admittedly, they've always seemed to favor the light," he said. Some hoots and hollers came from towards the front of the room, no doubt the Warriors of Light all sitting together.

"However," said Xehanort. "In truth, anybody is capable of embodying light or darkness. Perhaps, even a mixture of both. I've always known that, and now, we are going to allow you to do that, too."

Axel perked up, and the whole room was on the edge of their seats. Xehanort cleared his throat.

"One month from tonight, we will be releasing an expansion that will include a Grand Quest; anyone who is able to complete this quest will earn the Keyblade Mastery skill."

The room exploded. Jumps, cheers, yelling and screaming in excitement. Axel and I just stared at each other in awe.

Anyone was going to be able to wield the Keyblade?

It seemed so weird to even consider it. From what I'd gathered, most MMO's don't have exclusive weapons like Kingdom Hearts had with the Keyblades, but by now it just seemed like a fact of life in the game. Now...anyone could do it.

Suddenly I didn't feel so special. I hadn't done anything to earn my Keyblade - it was a gift, some weird plan from DiZ that earned me the privilege. And now anyone would be able to do it.

I'm sure it wouldn't be easy - Kingdom Hearts didn't have a Grand Quest, a "main story" so to speak. There were individual quest lines, but most of them were restricted to one world. The Station of Serenity was one of very few exceptions, and the others were still too high a level for me to attempt.

"It's not going to be easy," Xehanort promised. "But I have confidence that those of you who are pure of heart, and strong of will, can find the quest and succeed in this mission."

More applause. Xehanort didn't stop them this time, just standing and watching as all his faithful players lost their goddamn minds at the announcement. My eardrums felt like they were bursting as everyone freaked out.

I couldn't explain why I dreaded it. In just a month, my power wasn't going to be anything special. Just when I was getting close to catching up with the Organization - at least some of the lower level ones like Larxene and Luxord. Suddenly it felt like any advantage I had to keep me relevant amid these incredible players just fell away.

Axel must have noticed that whatever was going on in my head wasn't good. Standing behind me, he wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my head, both of us still watching the stage. I knew Axel must be excited - he'd spoken before about how he wished he could wield the Keyblade. A tiny part of me was thankful he didn't show how excited he must be.

When the roaring applause finally died down, Xehanort leaned into the mic one last time. "And now, to explain more about the upcoming expansion, I'm going to pass to my business partner, writer and creative director of Kingdom Hearts, Ansem. Ansem?"

The name shot through my brain like lightning. Ansem - wasn't that the name of the man in Hollow Bastion, the "Seeker of Darkness" from when I sided with the darkness?

The surprises kept coming. The man from the game - Xemnas' lookalike - didn't approach the microphone. Instead, it was the guy from our panel, with his sleek blond hair and his nicely tailored suit.

DiZ.

"DiZ is the head writer," Axel said aloud. "That...explains a lot, actually."

"Yeah."

I flashed back to our conversation in the game only this morning - he trapped me in that pod, and...I shuddered at the thought of what happened next.

DiZ...or rather, Ansem, began his presentation by showing a trailer for the new expansion. New worlds were being added - fantastic and magical ones. One was a land filled with snow, another a jungle with a mysterious tower. Another looked like some sort of alternate San Francisco. They looked incredible and fresh and new, and it looks like the already amazing graphics were going to be updated to be even _more_ lifelike.

"And there is just one more world being added," he said finally. "A secret world. One I hope the players of Kingdom Hearts will discover."

Rather than applause, the room made a huge 'oooooh' sound. Ansem thanked everyone again for coming, wished them a great rest of the convention, and the panel came to a close.

Axel and I waited for the crowds to clear out a bit before making our way back out into the convention center, not wanting to fight the tidal wave of people on their way out. I overheard the same conversation a hundred times - everyone was excited to get their own Keyblade. It seemed that whatever fighting styles people had learned, whatever magic and techniques they'd mastered, meant nothing at the thought of wielding their very own Keyblade. As Axel and I made our way back out towards the vendor room, we ran into Marluxia and Larxene, standing close to each other with their arms folded over their chests.

"Honestly, it's embarrassing," I overheard, just catching the end of Marluxia's sentence.

"Seriously. Do these people not have any dignity?" Larxene scoffed.

"What are you talking about?" Axel asked.

Larxene cocked an eyebrow up at Axel, and then down at me. "Everyone's talking about how they want their own Keyblade now. Pretty soon everyone's going to have the exact same gear. How annoying," Larxene scoffed. "Count me out. I'll use my knives and magic until the day they shut the game down. I'm not like these _sheep_."

That seemed oddly directed at me, but she made her point.

"It's true. Soon you're going to have a lot of competition, Roxas," Marluxia chided. "You'd better get to work."

I gritted my teeth, not wanting to snap back at Marluxia. I liked him well enough - we got along fine when we'd done the odd quest together in larger groups in the guild. But he had a mouth on him, much like Larxene, though not quite as shrill.

"Roxas has already proven himself," Axel defended. "Plus, he's an OG. None of these guys can catch up to him at the rate he's been leveling up his Keyblade Mastery skill."

"For now," Marluxia said. "I don't mean to harp on you, Roxas. I'm sure you know that Xemnas inviting you to the guild was a strategic decision, not a gesture of good faith. Now that Keyblades will become more accessible, work hard and make sure that you're still worth the effort."

Marluxia and Larxene departed, leaving me with nothing more than a bitter taste in my mouth. _This_ was why I didn't tend to associate with the larger guild. I liked it so much better when it was just me and Axel, with the occasional tagalong from some of the others.

"Screw those guys," Axel scoffed. He turned his back to them and stared down at me directly, a warm smile tugging on the corners of his lips. "Hey, you wanna go log in? I want to get some ice cream."

I laughed a little. "Doesn't it seem weird to go get ice cream in Twilight Town when we can get some here?"

Axel laughed, too, and scratched his head. "Fair point! Lead the way."

We found the nearest place that sold ice cream, and asked about Sea Salt ice cream. Unfortunately they didn't have it - I guess it was a pretty small detail of the game that didn't make it into the convention, regrettably. Axel got chocolate and I got vanilla, and we wandered aimlessly through the convention while we wait in relative silence.

"I wish this weekend would never end," Axel said. He polished off the end of his stick of ice cream, looking at the wooden stick in his hand. Axel stared at it as if waiting for it to shatter into those holographic shards, like when items broke or were used up in Kingdom Hearts.

"I don't want you to go," he further clarified. My chest tugged at his words. I hadn't thought about it - Axel and I were together now, in whatever capacity that was. And we could enjoy our romantic bliss or whatever for the next 12 hours or so before I was back on a plane and flying home with Sora.

I didn't say anything for a moment. Without thinking, I gently pulled on the collar of Axel's T-shirt to bring him down to face level and plant a kiss on his lips. He didn't fight me on it, instead leaning into it like he was never going to get the chance to do it again.

I pulled away a few moments later, and before Axel could speak, I took what was left of my ice cream and stuck the bar in Axel's mouth. He choked on it for a second, not expecting the intrusion. I laughed and backed quickly away from Axel as he pulled it out of his mouth, seething with playful anger.

"Oh, so _that's_ how it's gonna be," he growled, a huge wicked smile on his face now. He tossed the remaining ice cream in the trash and ran after me, but I was laughing too hard to get away as he scooped me off my feat, my back pressed against his front as his arms curled around my chest and hoisted me into the air. I laughed and kicked and half-heartedly tried to get free, but Axel wasn't having any of that and pulled me tight against him and carried me through the convention.

Without having much left to do, Axel and I returned to the large shared hotel room. Though a few stragglers had wandered back, Demyx and Zexion were still out and about so Axel and I had the room to ourselves.

We lay in bed, not necessarily cuddling, but laying close to each other and messing around on our phones for ages. It was so casual and comfortable, just showing each other memes and laughing. Every now and then Axel's hand would run across mine, squeezing it. It was like he pressed a button that instantly made me want to kiss him. This had easily become the craziest weekend of my life. Meeting everyone in person, this huge announcement at the convention, and now Axel and I were...boyfriends.

 _Lea_ and I were boyfriends. I knew both sides of him now - both real and virtual. Thinking those words in my head, I locked my phone and snuggled up closer to him, enjoying the moment.

In just a few hours I'd be leaving. Would it be the same in Kingdom Hearts? As realistic as the game could be in so many ways, could it ever compare to getting to feel Axel's presence, his warmth, his skin?

"It'll be weird," Axel said with a half-hearted chuckle. "We finally get to meet, and now we're like this...and soon it'll be business as usual."

"It's not like we'll break up," I said, comforting him. I looked up at Axel. "Virtual reality or not, we'll still see each other every day."

"I can't do this in Kingdom Hearts," Axel said, and leaned in to place a soft kiss on my lips. I smiled into it. Axel broke away with a quizzical look on his face. "Wait. Can I?"

We both thought about it for a moment. "I don't know," I said truthfully. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone try."

"Wanna give it a shot?" Axel grinned. I nodded, and we separated long enough to grab our helmets from the floor on either side of our shared bed.

Each of us put on our helmets, gave each other one last look in the real world, and laid back onto the pillows. Axel's hand grabbed mine tightly, and we both shut our eyes.

"Power on," we said in unison. Our bodies went numb, and we logged in together.


	18. The Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! So I know I missed my scheduled upload last Thursday/Friday, I'm really sorry! My life has gotten really crazy and I'm very close to being caught up with what's written vs what I'm posting. What's been making my life so hectic is nearly done, so I'm hoping to get things back on track soon. For the next couple of weeks at least, I'm going to only upload once per week while I try to get caught up. Chapter 20 is nearly written and then we're getting into a new "arc" so to speak, so get ready! I'll see you all next Tuesday.

"I guess this is it."

Axel was nice enough to drive me and Sora to the airport instead of having us call an Uber. Axel was driving home - he lived on this side of the country, at least, so he had that option. Sora and I were about to fly thousands of miles away from him.

"Yeah, I guess so," Axel agreed. Sora cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I'm gonna...give you two a minute," he said sheepishly, and wandered off in a random direction.

I looked up at Axel. He looked so sad. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled myself in close, and Axel wrapped me tight in a hug.

It felt so bad to leave. Axel and I were together - he was my _boyfriend_ , and now I had to leave as quickly as I met him in person. And now that everything was out in the open...

"When will I see you again?" I asked Axel.

"Summer's in a few months," Axel reminded me. "Maybe when you finish up school, before college starts, you can come see me. Or...I can come see you."

Months. It would still be _months_ before I could see him in person again, which only made me pull him even closer. It definitely gave me some perspective on how the real world was different from Virtual Reality. No matter how realistic Kingdom Hearts felt, it couldn't substitute being in the same room as someone you cared about. Not truly.

"I'll see you tomorrow when I log on," I promised. "Okay?"

Axel didn't respond, but I felt his chin on the top of my head when he nodded. I pulled back a little bit to throw my arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Axel ate it up, kissing me like we'd never have the chance again, and his hands cupped either side of my face for the few moments after we broke apart.

"You've got to go," Axel reminded me. I knew that - I didn't want to think about it, but Sora was probably starting to get anxious. Our flight was leaving soon.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I swore. I turned, readjusted the strap of my backpack, and walked away.

Axel called after me. "Hey, Roxas," he began. I turned back and faced him, an eyebrow perched high. Axel's mouth opened, but something caught, and he hesitated. "Have a safe flight."

I smiled, joined up with Sora, and we boarded our flight home.

I tried to distract myself from the flight by finishing up my homework on the way home. I promised Mom and Dad that we would have it all done, but on the way to the convention I was way too nervous to even think about it. Now, it served as an adequate distraction.

Sora seemed less disciplined, instead taking this time to badger me about my relationship with Axel.

"So you two are dating now?"

"I guess."

"How did it happen?"

"Long story."

"Are you gonna tell mom and dad?"

"Hell no!"

Sora laughed at that. "Come on. Whenever I've dated in the past, I've never kept it a secret."

"You aren't dating a 21-year old man that you met on the internet," I pointed out.

"...fair enough," Sora conceded.

I needed to change the subject. The homework was supposed to be a distraction from Axel. "And what about you, huh? You and Kairi seemed pretty friendly this weekend..."

I had nothing to base that accusation on other than wanting a reaction from Sora. I got it.

"W-What? Me and Kairi? No way!" Sora laughed awkwardly. "She's a good friend, nothing more."

"Hmm. Sure," I teased. I'm sure they weren't actually involved, but it was fun to mess with Sora.

I finished all my homework with little time to spare, only about twenty minutes left of the flight. Sora had long since given up on his, saying he'd finish it before school tomorrow. I was glad to have everything done so that I could just relax a little. The convention had exhausted me, plus all that had happened in the game and with Axel...I needed a night to myself.

The plane landed and my heart finally relaxed, thankful to be out of the air. We got our luggage and met our father, who had come to pick us both up.

"Hello, boys," he greeted.

"Hey Dad," Sora and I said in unison. We loaded our luggage into the back of the car and jumped in, Sora calling shotgun (as usual).

"Have a fun trip?" he asked. "I hope you got all your homework done."

"Yes, and we did," Sora answered, only half lying.

"Good."

Dad didn't ask us any more questions about our weekend, instead going into a story about a business trip he'd just gotten back from that he'd been just _dying_ to tell us. Sora feigned interest enough for the both of us, and I checked my phone. Axel had texted me - a selfie he'd taken of us down at the convention. I sent a text to Axel.

**Roxas: I'm really glad we met this weekend.**

He replied almost immediately.

**Axel: me too  
Axel: <3  
**

I caught myself smiling down at my phone like an idiot. I shoved it back in my pocket, and when I looked up, Sora was watching me from the corner of his eye with a stupid little smirk.

We finally got home just in time for a huge meal mom had prepared for us. Again we chatted through dinner, but they both avoided asking us any questions about our weekend, specifically the convention. I remembered all too well their opinion of the game, and how distracted Sora had become by it. They still didn't know I played, and for as long as possible I intended to keep it that way.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, seeing another text from Axel.

**Axel: this sucks lol i already miss you**

I smiled, rolling my eyes a little. He was so ridiculous. I started to text back a response, only to be interrupted by my father clearing his throat.

"Roxas. You know we don't use our phones at the table," he reminded me. I forced myself not to roll my eyes - all the stupid rules he enforced. I locked my phone halfway through my reply and stuffed it back into my pocket.

"Sorry," I apologized half-heartedly. We finished the rest of our meal in relative silence. The second I was done, I excused myself from the table to go back upstairs. I grabbed all my luggage and hauled my stuff upstairs.

I dropped everything once I locked my door behind me and dug my phone out of my pocket, finishing my reply.

**Roxas: I miss you too.**

Axel's reply was almost immediate. **You wanna play?**

I considered it for a moment. I didn't have much else to do - my homework was done, my family probably wouldn't bother me again for the rest of the night. But I was so tired, that jumping into a quest and combat felt like such a chore. I wanted to see Axel, but I think I wanted sleep more right now.

**Roxas: Not tonight. I'm gonna go to bed early. I'll log in after school tomorrow.**

For the first time, Axel took a minute to respond. Eventually my phone lit up again.

**Axel: alright. see you tomorrow, rox <3  
Roxas: <3**

...

School the next day felt...weird. It felt like Axel was supposed to be there, which didn't make any sense because not only had he graduated years ago, but he'd never even _been_ to this school.

"Roxas, are you okay?" Olette asked. I looked up from my lunch tray, meeting her soft, concerned eyes.

"Yeah. Sorry, just thinking," I admitted.

Hayner, never passing up an opportunity to make fun of me, spoke up. "Uh oh, Roxas thinking. That can't be good."

Pence chuckled a little. "No, really, Roxas, you're been weird all day. Did something happen on your trip?"

Boy, was _that_ an understatement.

"You know that game Sora plays? The VR one?" I asked.

"Yeah, Kingdom Hearts," Hayner confirmed. 

"Well...I've been playing for a while now, too. A few months, actually, and..." I trailed off, clearing my throat. "Well, I met someone online who was my really good friend. We'd been friends for a while, and this weekend we met in real life."

I paused for a second. I built up what I wanted to say, but it got caught in my throat. I took a deep breath. "And now we're...more than friends. But he lives really far away."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Roxas," Olette said. "But I'm so happy you found someone! Tell us about him."

I told them about Axel. His real name was Lea, and how he taught me about the game. I told them about when we met in real life. I spared them the detail about our kiss, but told them that we made things official at the convention.

"But now I don't know when I'll get to see him again, at least in person," I groaned, dropping my forehead onto the lunch table. "It sucks."

"Damn," Hayner mused. "Roxas, dating an older man. Who would've thought?"

"It's not like 21 is old," Olette defended. "Roxas will be 18 in a month, and as long as they didn't...do anything..."

"We didn't," I interrupted.

"Then no harm no foul," Olette finished.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Roxas," Pence comforted, patting my shoulder. "Long distance sucks, but you can still see each other in the game at least, right? That's gotta be better than nothing."

Pence was right. I _knew_ he was, and I knew that I'd be seeing Axel in just a few short hours. But something felt so shitty about not being able to see him in real life. Regardless I put on a smile and nodded, thanking Pence.

We would be fine. _I_ would be fine. I didn't even realize how I felt about Axel for so long, and our friendship before we met was solid, unbreakable. This wouldn't be any different.

I didn't need Axel to be with me in person for me to carry on. Just being able to speak to him, see him online, and know that he cared - that would be enough for now.


	19. The Second

When you play Kingdom Hearts, at least when you get up to the higher levels, there are some menus you tend not to check anymore. Take my equipment for example - now that I had leveled up quite a bit, I had most of the best stuff I could equip at my level. Although magic wasn't my strong suit, I knew enough that I could use Cura instead of burning through potions. When a defeated Nobody dropped an Elixir, though, I decided to go ahead and equip it now in case I ever needed it in a bad situation.

That's when I noticed a pretty significant change in my menu. "Hey Axel, what's this?" I asked.

Axel peered over my shoulder, looking at my menu. There was Oathkeeper, in the slot on the far right of my menu as usual. Then, on the left, was an identical slot that was empty.

"What the hell?" Axel exclaimed. "That's a dual-wielding slot, like for my chakrams."

"I thought Keyblades were two-handed weapons?"

"They _are_ ," Axel said. "Or, at least, they're _supposed_ to be."

Suddenly I remembered DiZ's words: _Because like all tools, they get worn down and occasionally need to be sharpened._

"DiZ. He did this," I said. "When we met in the mansion."

"Ohh," Axel mused aloud. "Well go on, then, give it a shot!"

Only having three Keyblades to my name, I equipped Lady Luck to my offhand and closed my menu. I reached out with both hands, and grabbed at the hilts of my weapons. Oathkeeper, as per usual, jumped to my right hand, and Lady Luck in my left.

"Whoa," I gasped.

"Just like Sora," Axel said.

It wasn't, though. I saw Sora use his power during our fight with Twilight Thorn. It was powerful, but it only worked for a limited period of time. This was a new equipment slot, which meant I could use two Keyblades _whenever I wanted_.

"I guess that settles that," Axel chuckled. I looked at him curiously, letting my Keyblades rest at my sides. "The dark Keyblade wielder on the platform. It _is_ you."

Axel and I started scouring the worlds for the other Keyblade - the black one in the Station of Serenity. We searched Agrabah, Wonderland, Olympus, the Caribbean. We even went down to the sewers in Traverse Town to see if I could get back into the Station of Serenity, but no such luck. Now, it was only the portal from there to Twilight Town.

That dark Keyblade was out there somewhere, I knew it. Oathkeeper was in DiZ's sketches, and after another search through Reddit, so was this other Keyblade. We still didn't know its name, but it existed.

Axel and I agreed not to tell anyone about my new skill yet, especially Sora. It was all fun and games - but whatever was going on with that image in the Station of Serenity, it sounded like Sora and I were going to fight at some point. I still wanted to defeat Sora someday - not because of a grudge or anything, but a personal goal.

I rarely got to practice dual-wielding, just in case other players were around. Whenever we found an area where Axel and I were alone, I'd draw both of my Keyblades just to get some practice in. It was _insanely_ powerful, for the first time allowing me to keep pace with Axel in terms of dealing damage, despite the fact that he was still a higher level than me. I made a mental note - eventually, I wanted to duel Axel, too.

"I think it'll be in one of the darker worlds," Axel said, pulling my attention away from my thoughts and ice cream.

"Huh?"

"The other Keyblade," Axel clarified. "The pictures you showed me, it looked like you had one Keyblade of light, one of darkness. Oathkeeper is the light, so this one should be in the darkness."

"Makes sense to me," I agreed. "So where are you thinking?"

"Hmm..." Axel trailed off, pausing for a moment to take another bite of his ice cream. "Halloween Town? Or, maybe Hollow Bastion..."

"What about The World That Never Was?" I offered.

Axel thought about that for a moment. He took another bite of his ice cream, thinking for a bit. "I don't know. I've never really explored it much. Nobodies there are a crazy high level, and we'll need more than just us two if we want to stay alive there."

"Sounds like exactly the kind of place they'd hide a secret Keyblade quest," I pointed out, and polished off the last of my ice cream. I flicked the stick off the edge of the tower, watching it break apart and fragment into nothingness. Axel was close behind, and tossed his off the edge, too.

"I can throw some lines, see if anyone's willing to go on the hunt with us..." Axel trailed off. He scooted closer to me, throwing his arm around my shoulder. "I don't like other people coming along. This is _our_ thing."

I rolled my eyes, immediately smiling, and leaned into it.

Things with Axel had been good. It's been about a week since the convention, and we were both delighted to find that physical contact in Kingdom Hearts was still possible, even if it weren't as good as in real life. But still he could hold me, we could kiss and hold hands, and it would have to be enough to tide us over until we could meet again IRL.

We waited a couple of days, stocking up on elixirs and grinding to boost me up just one extra level before we headed out. Axel and I still wanted to keep my dual-wielding a secret, so we grabbed some of our closer friends from the guild: Xigbar, Zexion, and Demyx. Axel said we'd need the extra magic support from Zexion, and Demyx was the best healer we had. Plus, Xigbar was just cool.

"Alright, we ready to head out?" Axel asked. The five of us finished equipping our elixirs and potions, and stood together.

"Can we know what this is about now?" Demyx groaned. "Look, I'm not a fighter. If I'm getting dragged into one of the most dangerous areas in the game, I want to know why."

"I'm curious, as well," said Zexion. "What are you two hiding?"

Axel and I exchanged a look, and nodded. We'd discussed this already - this had to happen if we were bringing others along with us, they deserved to know. I dug into my menu and pulled up the screenshots from the Station of Serenity, and told them the story of my quest with Sora and Riku, and the giant Nobody we encountered, and the Keyblade I earned from it that matched the image on the platform.

"So we're looking for the other Keyblade. The one of darkness," Zexion concluded. Xigbar studied the screenshot silently, curiously, scratching at his chin.

"Right," I confirmed. "And also..."

I drew my Keyblades - Oathkeeper and Lady Luck. Zexion chuckled, amused, and Demyx stared in fascination. Xigbar, only for a moment, had this devilish grin that faded into his normal excited one.

"Well well well, aren't you full of surprises, Roxas," Xigbar mused. "Who thought the noob Zexion dragged in would do all of this."

"The credit is mine to take," Zexion said, I think only half kidding. "But I understand, and I am ready to see this out. Shall we?"

The five of us left the castle and headed into the city. It was hard not to be a little nervous; the last time I explored The World That Never Was, I was overwhelmed almost immediately by a group of Dusks and had to be saved by Demyx. Not this time - Demyx and I were nearly the same level now, and with me wielding not one, but _two_ Keyblades, plus with all the backup in the world, I was more than ready to take this world on.

We started searching at the skyscraper at the center of the dark city. It seemed the most likely place to have a quest of significance, Keyblade or not.

"Have any of you explored this world very much?" Axel asked.

"Not really," Demyx admitted. "It's always been too dangerous. Honestly, I think the only ones who have are Xemnas and Saix."

It seemed so weird to even think about Xemnas out in the world, questing. He always seemed so...above it all. Never once had I ever seen him in combat, or joining someone's party. Rarely did I ever see him leave the castle.

Saix, on the other hand...that was more understandable. He joined the Organization later, apparently around the same time as Axel, but he was Xemnas' right hand man. Even Xigbar, the Guilds #2, took a backseat to Xemnas' favorite guard dog. Don't get me wrong, Saix was a decent enough guy, Xemnas too, but it was always sort of weird how intense they were.

We arrived at the skyscraper, noting the whole plaza was teeming with Heartless. I never knew that Heartless were in this world, rather than Nobodies, but it made little difference. The large group of Shadows and Neo-Shadows all seemed to take notice of us at the same time, and we all charged as a group.

The five of us had never gone on a quest together (at least not all at once), but we worked surprisingly well together given that we hadn't discussed any kind of strategy. Demyx and Zexion hung back, firing off magic (and Demyx healing us when needed). Axel and I took the offensive, getting up close and personal to dispose of as many enemies as possible. And Xigbar...did what Xigbar does, which is teleport all over the goddamn place and absolutely eviscerate every Heartless he could aim at.

It was amazing the difference dual-wielding made. Even though I wasn't as used to the combat style yet, immediately the damage output was unbelievable. Blocking was a little bit harder, but with Demyx on support and Axel watching my back, it made little difference.

Within a few minutes, they all fell, and each of us earned a nice bit of experience to boot. We all approached the base of the huge skyscraper, and stared up at it.

"What are we thinking? Up top?" Demyx offered.

"Unlikely. You can't enter this building," said Zexion. He pressed his hand flat on the glass, the flat yellow color indicating that it's just a texture on the building, not a proper door.

I mulled it over for a few moments. If Kingdom Hearts had taught me one thing, it's that the Keyblade could open and door. I pointed Oathkeeper at the door, the others instinctively stepping back, and waited for the door to open. Unfortunately, it stayed shut.

A notification appeared in the corner of my vision - a quest update. I opened my menu, and realized that a new quest had appeared titled "Door to Darkness". I set it as my active quest, and read the first instruction. _Enter the Door to Darkness_.

I turned around to face the group, only to see the door materialize behind them in the center of the plaza. I pointed to it with my Keyblade, 

"Well that works," Xigbar said sarcastically. "Anyone else weirded out by the fact we didn't even do anything, and that door just showed up?"

Axel and I exchanged a glance, and instantly I knew we both had the same thought. _DiZ._

Regardless, the five of us approached the door. Before I could even reach for the handle, it cracked open as I approached and swung outwards, revealing just an inky darkness behind it.

"Last chance to back out..." Demyx mumbled, more to himself than anyone else. Not waiting to hear his decision, I stepped into the void.

What started as a confident step immediately felt like a mistake as my foot caught no surface. I fell through the doorway and down into an abyss, hearing my party members shouting behind/above me, the loudest of which was Axel.

I kept falling - for ages, it seemed like. I tried to turn myself in the air, but because of all the inky blackness around me, it was hard to tell if I was even successful. It barely felt like falling - there was no wind rushing around me, no scenery for me to compare myself to as I plummeted further and further into this darkness. I searched around, above and below me, trying to find the others to no avail.

It felt like a lot of time passed, just floating through the darkness, though a quick check of my menu revealed it had only been a few minutes. At some point, I thought the game had glitched and I was going to just try logging out and logging back in, but then a small dot of light appeared in my vision, right below where I was falling. I straightened my body, pulling my arms close to myself to try and accelerate the fall like I'd seen skydivers do, but it didn't make any difference. I felt my descent start to slow, and I corrected myself upwards so that I could land on my feet instead of my face.

My fall slowed to a crawl and my feet hit the platform gently, light as a feather. The darkness around me still carried on forever, save for the platform I was standing on.

This platform was different - it wasn't any of the Princesses of Heart, nor the final platform with the dueling Keyblade wielders. This image was dark, though, just like that one - the Heartless symbol, cracked open and appeared to be bleeding darkness. It made me squirm - the Heartless were no friends of mine, but something about this image felt wrong.

"Roxas," someone said. I turned to be face to face with Axel, and relief washed over my body like a warm shower. I walked up and wrapped my arms around him, relieved I wasn't down here alone.

"What the hell is going on, Axel?" I asked, sighing with contempt and confusion. Slowly the others descended, too, most likely in the order they jumped. Xigbar was first, followed by Demyx, and immediately after Zexion.

"You pushed me, you son of a bitch!" Demyx yelled at Zexion.

"We didn't have time to wait for you to make a decision," Zexion shrugged.

"Enough," Xigbar commanded, waving off their bickering. The one-eyed man turned to face me and Axel directly. "Roxas. This place looks like the screenshots you showed us."

I nodded. I pulled up my map, just to confirm what I already knew. The Station of Serenity - I was back.

"Last time I was here we had to fight a lot of Nobodies," I told them. Everyone immediately drew their weapons. "Let's be on our guard."

As if on cue, enemies spawned in. Lots of them - Neo Shadows, like in the square back in the World That Never Was. They swarmed around us, so many of them that the platform was practically swallowed up by all the blackness.

The five of us all exchanged quick glances and somehow unconsciously formed our plan. The four of us all turned our backs to Demyx who stood in the center, plucking away at the strings on his Sitar and preparing his healing spells. Neo Shadows flooded towards us like a tidal wave.

It took everything in me to keep them at bay - having a second Keyblade helped, letting me double the damage and bat away twice as many of the Heartless. Axel seemed to be fairing well from what I could see over my shoulder, and Zexion was basically just spamming Reflega and putting us all to shame.

We weren't making any progress and the Heartless were only getting closer and closer to Demyx. Deciding we needed to split their attention, Xigbar yelled "Spread out!" and we all jumped into the action. I slashed away at Heartless as quickly as I could, most falling in just a couple of swipes. It felt like we weren't making any progress - for every Heartless that fell, another one was ready for me to take out.

It was starting to wear on me, but Demyx was still doing a good job of keeping us healed up despite that he now had to fight as well. I slashed and hacked away at the horde of enemies for what felt like forever before Axel spoke up.

"Everyone, get close to Zexion!" Axel yelled. I didn't know what he had planned but I followed his instructions, and made a beeline for the mage. Xigbar and Demyx were close behind, and Zexion held up his lexicon.

Axel stood at the center of the platform, eyes squeezed tight. His Chakrams spun around him, engulfed in fire, and tendrils of black energy dancing between the spiraling weapons.

And then, fire - hotter and brighter than I'd ever seen Axel use before. It formed a pillar at the center of the platform, and Heartless simply evaporated as they got too close. Axel had completely vanished in the flame, and then it began expanding. _Fast_. The Heartless barely had time to run before the flames engulfed them, and just as it reached us, Zexion cast Reflega and shielded us from the blast.

It was too bright to even look at, and I shielded my eyes and waited for the heat to pass. I watched myself gain a _ton_ of experience thanks to our shared party, and I dared to even think about how many Heartless Axel just eliminated at once.

I could also see Axel's health bar in the corner of my vision, and it was as low as it could possibly be before he died. A stiff breeze would send him back to Traverse town at this point.

When the fire cleared, Zexion dropped the spell. I blinked the spots out of my eyes and scanned the platform for Axel, who was kneeling at the center. His chakrams were destroyed - lying on the platform in tons of pieces before shattering and fading away, as all destroyed items in Kingdom Hearts did. But the Heartless were gone, which was all that mattered for now.

"Holy fucking shit, Axel," Demyx exclaimed. He and I ran to Axel's side, Demyx using the last of his MP to heal Axel. The redhead thanked him and stood up, steadying himself on my shoulder.

"That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen," I gaped. "What spell was that?"

"Firaza," Axel explained. I'd never heard of Firaza - all spells came in three stages, Fire, Fira, and Firaga for example, but this must have been something beyond. "I unlocked it once I maxed out my fire magic skill."

"Nice work," Xigbar complimented. "Shame about your weapons, though."

"It's alright. My MP will replenish soon, I'll just use magic for the rest of the quest," Axel said casually. He turned and faced me, and I immediately planted a kiss on his lips.

Axel didn't mind, smiling into it and kissing me back for just a second. "Thank you," I said as I broke it off. I turned away from him, looking around the platform.

Before, when the enemies on a platform were defeated, that stained glass path would appear and lead us to the next platform. As far as I could see though, there _were_ no other platforms, and no path appeared now that Axel had finished off the Heartless. We all stood there, patiently waiting for something to happen.

"So now what?" Demyx asked, looking around as well.

"I'm not sure. It's different than before," I admitted. I scanned the ground, looking for a keyhole or something, to no avail. I checked my quest menu, but still didn't have any updates.

Axel opened his menu - apparently he had the quest, too, but his said the same thing. The other three just walked aimlessly around the platform and waited for something to happen.

We stood around for about ten minutes, waiting for something to happen, when Demyx finally gave in. "I think the quest is glitched, guys. This sucks," he groaned. "I didn't even _get_ the quest. I'm gonna bail."

It was disappointing, but I was close to agreeing with him. Something was definitely wrong, and we weren't making any progress just sitting here.

"Alright, see you later," I nodded. No hard feelings - none of us felt like sitting around waiting for something to happen. Demyx left the party, and vanished through a Dark Corridor. Zexion followed suit a few moments later.

Xigbar waited for a few more minutes with us, but eventually let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, I'm gonna bounce, too," he said, defeated. "You guys good here on your own?"

"Yeah, we're holding down the fort," Axel shrugged. Xigbar smirked, left the party, and vanished through a portal.

I sat down on the platform, running my finger across the cracks in the stain glass between the panels of color. Axel joined me, sitting right by my side with his leg pressed up close against mine. The thick, black fabric prevented us from touching more directly, but it was nice to feel his presence.

We sat like that for a moment, just drinking in a moment of peace between us, before Axel spoke up. "Maybe the others were right. Maybe we should just-"

And the platform quaked. Cracks ran through the stain glass beneath us. Axel and I broke apart, trying to scramble to our feet, but we were both too slow and the platform entirely shattered, and we were airborne again.

There _was_ another platform, directly beneath us. We couldn't see it before, but it was there and we were approaching it fast. Axel and I exchanged a glance midair, our view of each other slightly obscured by the falling fragments of glass, but we understood that the quest was finally moving forward. I wasn't sure what had changed, or what we'd done to cause it, but at least it was going.

Now, if only we'd been able to keep our backup.

The image on the next platform, at first glance, I thought was a familiar one, but not exactly. It was the dueling Keyblade wielders again - one of light, one of darkness, each wielding two Keyblades. But what before had been pristine, unblemished armor was now rusted, broken and damaged. Part of the Light warrior's helmet was cracked open, revealing spiky brown hair protruding from inside.

And a chip in the Dark warrior's face mask revealed a piercing blue eye, wide with fear.

"Jesus," I breathed aloud. We fell closer to the platform and as we neared, our pace slowed to allow us to land safely on the glass. I drew my Keyblades and backed up close to Axel, ready to protect him for when the new enemies spawned in.

Axel raised his hands, fire gathering in his palms as he readied his own attack, but for a few still moments, none came. And then the platform shook again; rather than it shattering and causing us to fall again, this time a huge black figure began to materialize. It was obviously a Heartless - rivaling in size to the Twilight Thorn.

The figure was imposing to say the least - black tendrils for hair, weird hooked feet keeping it upright, piercing yellow eyes. Where its stomach should've been instead was a huge cutout in the shape of a heart, allowing me to see right through it.

Its health bar appeared in the top of my vision, along with its name: "Darkside".

"Well damn," I said, impressed by the sheer size of the thing. Darkside seemed take notice of me, and its eyes flashed brightly as it locked on to me. "Oh sh-"

Darkside swung a huge black hand at me, way faster than I'd expected. It tossed me aside like a ragdoll as my HP fell by a quarter. I threatened to spill right over the edge of the platform if not for Axel throwing himself in my trajectory, forcing me to collide with him and knock his HP down by a few points as well. I crashed into him and we both rolled onto the ground, me taking a moment to recover from having the wind knocked out of me.

"Roxas, I need you to keep him busy for a minute," Axel requested. I barely heard him over the ringing in my ears, but nodded anyway and pulled myself back onto my feet.

Darkside didn't even break a sweat hitting me.

This time, rather than swinging, he fell onto his knees, shoulders back and head hanging limp backwards. Dark energy gathered in his stomach cutout, an orb of swirling black and purple. He tensed and bolts of dark energy separated from the source, slowly inching towards me and Axel. I put myself between Axel and Darkside, swatting away the beams as they approached with relative ease.

Rather than staying totally on defense, I swatted the last beam of energy as I sprinted towards the boss. If this thing is supposed to be a sort of Heartless counterpart to Twilight Thorn, then its weak spot was almost definitely its head.

As it reeled back to punch me, I readied to jump over its fist. The punch sailed just under my shoes as I leaped, flipping forward to keep my momentum as I landed on the monster's arm. Its hand seemed to be stuck in the ground, and its arm stayed still long enough for me to run up onto its shoulder and start my combo on its head.

I hacked away at its HP for as long as I could, slashing and spinning and really laying into it. With two Keyblades at work, I drained a good bit of its health before it managed to shake me off. I flipped as I headed back towards the ground, landing on my feet and holding my Keyblades high.

Darkside swung wide, and I knew the only way I was going to keep Axel from getting hit was to take the blow myself. I sprinted to my right, interrupting the path between its open palm and Axel, still scrolling through his menu, and raised my weapons to block.

It barely did a thing - Darkside tossed me aside like a rag doll. Spots invaded my vision as the huge force blasted me aside, Keyblades flung out of my hands and I landed hard on my shoulder.

I rolled onto my back, just pausing for a moment to catch my breath. A quick glance at my HP wasn't comforting - that hit had done nearly half my health. I pulled myself back onto my feet, scanning the platform for Axel.

I found him. He finally closed his menu. He looked...serene. His eyes closed gently, a deep breath lifting his chest upwards and falling back down. He opened his eyes and stared up at Darkside, not even a hint of intimidation. Darkside had shifted targets, and readied a punch directly at Axel.

"Axel, look out!" I yelled. I sprinted towards him, summoning Oathkeeper and Lady Luck back to my hands. I put all the strength I had into my legs, trying to cross the distance. Axel only had fire magic, he didn't have any other magic leveled up enough to block a hit like that from Darkside. And without a weapon...

Axel raised his arm, fire gathering in his palm as he curled his fingers. I jumped, propelling all of my momentum forward with Keyblades raised high. My STR stat wasn't high enough to take the blow, but instincts took over. The only thing in my mind was "protect Axel, protect Axel, protect Axel" over and over as I dove right in front of him, bringing my Keyblades up against Darkside's fist to block.

I shut my eyes and waited for the impact. I felt the heat from Axel's hand, whatever spell he was casting. Hopefully whatever he had planned wasn't an AOE attack to catch me up in the blast.

But no blast came. I shut my eyes, crossed my Keyblades in an X over my face to try and block the hit. Something connected with my Keyblades from _behind_ , but didn't have time to question it before Darkside's fist connected with my weapons.

But I didn't take damage - the force of it scooted me back across the ground by a couple of feet, but my HP stayed firmly in place.

I glanced up. Darkside's massive black fist was being held back - by Oathkeeper, Lady Luck, and a third Keyblade.

 _Axel's_ Keyblade.

"What the fuck?" I gasped.

It wasn't a Keyblade I'd ever seen before. The blade looked like fire, the handle like one of Axel's signature chakrams. And it was in _Axel's fucking hand._

"Surprise," Axel grinned, a strained smile through the strength he was focusing in holding the Heartless back.

"When did...how can you...?" I stammered.

"I'll explain later," Axel promised. "For now, let's finish this thing."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I know this is a lot of world-building and mechanics talk, but it's all creating the vibe of this story. The second chapter will go up on January 24, so check back in a few days!


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